Touhou Hearts: Yukari's Ploy
by WriterRoxas
Summary: Sora, Donald and Goofy have arrived in Gensokyo, a mysterious world suffering from a Heartless infestation. There's just one problem - Everyone believes that Sora is responsible! How will the Keyblade Master survive in a world full of hostile demi-gods?
1. Chapter 1

Between the many worlds, a small ship drifted along its path. The ship, known as a 'Gummi Ship', held a group of very important individuals, currently on a quest to foil the plans of a dark organisation, while also searching for their friends, whose whereabouts were currently unknown.

The first of the group, a fifteen year old boy with rather spiky brown hair, light blue eyes, and a black suit covered with many pockets and zippers, was Sora. He was the Keyblade's Chosen. as the name implied, the keyblade was a key-shaped sword, which was used to release hearts from dark creatures known as the 'Heartless', as well as lock the Heart of each World.

The second of the group was Donald Duck. As_ his_ name implied, he was an anthropomorphic duck, dressed vaguely similar to a wizard. He was the Magician of King Mickey's court, who accompanied Sora on his journey, as per his King's wish before he had disappeared from the castle.

The third of the group, Goofy, was a tall creature, and the Captain of the Knights back at Disney Castle. He, too, accompanied Sora on his journey to each world.

Finally, there was Chip and Dale, two chipmunks who ran the Gummi Ship, keeping it in perfect condition.

The group were heading to yet another world to save from the clutches of Organisation XIII, a group of 'Nobodies' that seemed to be using Sora to their own ends, when their sensors detected a nearby world.

"Seems a bit odd, this one..." Chip muttered thoughtfully, reading the information that flashed up on screen. "I dunno guys, it feels different to every other world we've been to."

"But isn't each world different from the other anyway?" Goofy asked the chipmunk.

"Well, I guess, but this doesn't feel like it shares the same... you know, universe?"

Sora, Donald and Goofy looked at each other, confused. They weren't quite sure what Chip was talking about.

"Well, we might as well check it out," Sora shrugged. "Besides, we might find Riku there!"

Everyone knew that was highly doubtful. after all, Sora's best friend from their home world was incredibly elusive, even more so than from their first few months of journeying, when they didn't have Nobodies to deal with, and Riku was with the bad guys. Still, no one was about to shoot down Sora's hopes like that, and there was always a small chance...

Returning to the controls specially made for chipmunks, both Chip and Dale began to bring the gummi Ship down for a landing on the mysterious world.

* * *

><p>"They have arrived, Yukari."<p>

"So they did, Ran."

"What will you do now?" Ran, a tall woman who wore large, flowing white robes, with a two-pointed cap asked. As anyone with sight would point out, this woman looked rather odd. Mostly because of the nine large, bushy golden tails that erupted behind her. It was clear that 'Ran' wasn't a human at all.

Yukari, despite her far more human appearance, also had an otherwordly aura about her. It was clear she wasn't human, and very, very powerful. Wearing a cap over her long, golden-blonde hair, she grinned at the large crystal ball that showed a primarily red ship land within the cover of a forest clearing.

Yukari had been awaiting the arrival of these people. She had temporarily opened up the Border that separated her land of Gensokyo from the rest of the worlds to allow them entry. And now, they weren't going to leave until she was satisfied.

"I'll wait a bit. Right about now, Gensokyo's 'strongest' should be making her way in their general direction."

Ran stepped closer, peering into the crystal ball to see a brown haired boy, a giant duck and a tall... thing emerge from the ship. "Is that wise? I can't imagine this 'destined hero' guy struggling against her."

"Well, let's just wait and see." Yukari suggested.

* * *

><p>"I don't see what's so 'different' about this place..." Sora muttered thoughtfully as the group followed a forest trail deeper within.<p>

Glancing at his companions, Sora noticed Donald frowning. At least, what he assumed was a frown. It was hard to tell with a duck's bill. "Something up, Donald?"

I can feel something magical in the air..." Donald said in wonder. "It's like, his forest contains lots of ambient magic within."

"Gosh, that sounds interesting!" Goofy said cheerfully. "What's it feel like?"

"How am I supposed to explain that?" Donald demanded to know.

At that moment, there was a rustling of leaves all around them. With no wind to cause this, the group was immediately on alert, weapons drawn. Sora's Keyblade, Donald's wizard staff, and Goofy's round shield.

The trio waited several moments for something to appear, yet nothing did. They remained tense and alert for several moments, until Sora finally lowered his weapon.

"Sora! Don't let your guard down!" Donald snapped, and Sora grinned confidently at him.

"Ah, don't worry so much! Look, it's fine!"

Shouldering his Keyblade and whistling casually, Sora continued to travel down the path, completely at ease. Much more cautiously, his companion's followed, glancing suspiciously at the trees all around them. With the magic Donald was sensing, it wouldn't surprise him if the trees were sentient. And hostile.

It didn't seem to be the case, though. After a few minutes of walking, the group came to a large lake, with a mansion barely visible in the distance.

"A dead end?" Goofy observed thoughtfully, peering into the water. "Where should we go now?"

Sora looked around the area, a casual smile on his face.

"What?" Donald asked, noticing Sora's strange, more-laid-back-than-usual nature.

"Ah, nothing," Sora shrugged. "Just thought this made a better area to fight."

At that moment, a loud battle cry filled the air, and something burst from the forest behind them. As if he had been expecting it, Sora immediately whirled around, leaping forward and swinging with his Keyblade, which the charging mass of ice-blue just managed to avoid, ducking under the swinging and flying straight into the lake.

Blinking in surprise, Donald looked at the rippling lake. "Uh, Sora? What was that?"

"Dunno," Sora replied. "I thought it was a Heartless or something at first, but I didn't feel any Darkness emanating from it."

"Cirno!" Another voice cried from the direction that the thing had appeared from. From the trees, something that looked like a little girl appeared, with long, green hair and silver wings with golden, membrane-like edgings. She fearfully stopped when she realised that she'd shown herself to the group they were following, and another girl appeared a moment later from the same place.

This girl was blonde, with a red ribbon tied into her hair, with a white shirt and black dress. Again, Sora couldn't feel any Darkness from these girls, although the blonde one had an energy around her that seemed similar.

Donald, glaring at the flying girls, marched up to them, pointing his staff at the two "Okay, who are you? What do you want?"

The green-haired girl glanced fearfully at Donald, then at her friend, who glared right back at Donald, feeling no intimidation.

"You're the ugliest looking youkai I've ever seen." The girl stated, and Donald gave her a look of confusion, then rage.

"Ugly? Say that again, you brat!" Donald quacked angrily.

"Ugly!"

Goofy placed a hand on Donald's arm before he could throw a Fire spell at the girls. "Now now, let's calm down!"

"So what's the deal with you?" Sora asked the girls.

Before they could reply however, something from the lake splashed its way upward, and the group turned their heads to see the ice-blue mass from earlier, which turned out to be yet another girl, roughly a head smaller than her friends.

Her hair, eyes and clothing all seemed to be an identical blue shade, with a shirt that couldn't decide if it was also blue, or just white, and had six, crystalline wings sprouting from her back. She was also barefoot, sopping wet, and incredibly annoyed.

"A lucky swing, that one! I was aiming for the lake anyway, but you almost got me!" The girl, who was apparently 'Cirno', declared.

Snorting in amusement, Sora turned to face the girl, wondering if they had arrived in some sort of Neverland extension. "Oh? And why did you attack us anyway?"

The other two girls flew to the blue one's side as she cleared her throat, then Cirno pointed dramatically at the three below them. "Simple! We were told by a reliable source that a group of three super-evil people were terrorising the place with their monsters! As the strongest creature alive, it is my duty to stop you!"

_The strongest?_ Sora, Donald and Goofy thought with amusement. Somehow, they doubted that very much. it sounded like childish bragging to them.

"Are you sure that's us?" Sora asked. "Because we're undoubtably good guys!"

"Ha!" Cirno laughed. "Please! I know it's you from the descriptions!"

Pointing at Sora, Cirno recited, "The leader is a stupid looking boy with a stupid hairdo, stupid clothes, and the stupidest weapon ever!"

"W-what?" Sora gasped, while Donald snickered.

Cirno then pointed to the laughing duck. "And his magician accomplice is an ugly looking duck who is also stupid!"

It was Donald's turn (again) to feel enraged, and was about to throw a Thunder spell at the infuriating girl when Goofy held him back once again.

"Finally..." Cirno pointed at Goofy. "... Uh, the goofy looking one?"

"Guess that's me!" Goofy chuckled.

"But 'stupid' sounds better, so you're also stupid!"

"Well, that's not very nice..." Goofy admonished lightly.

Sighing and shaking his head, Sora said to the girls, "Well whoever told you is wrong. We aren't here to terrorise anything! In fact, we're here to see if we can help out with that kind of problem!"

"Lies!" Cirno declared loudly, her voice echoing around the forest. "Now, enough pointless banter! Now is the time to fight like men! And youkai! And youkai who dress like stupid! For Cirno... It is icin' time!"

The trio looked at each other in confusion. "...Did any of you understand that part?" Sora asked.

"Not at all." Donald growled, still looking incredibly annoyed with the girl.

"Initiating Boss Battle!" Cirno shouted, blue lights beginning to form in her hands. The two girls with Cirno moved away, positioning themselves in a trianglular formation. "Daiyousei! Rumia! Let us purge Gensokyo of this evil!"

* * *

><p>"My my, she's getting right into it!" Yukari chuckled heartily, while Ran watched the orb impassively. "Ah, kids... they'll believe anything you tell 'em."<p>

"I believe that only the truly gullible ones do, Yukari." Ran replied.

"Hush Ran. the boss battle's starting!"

* * *

><p>"Icicle Fall!" Cirno declared, and row after row of icicles began to form from the blue girl's hands and fall towards the group, who immediately took evasive action, leaping away from the icicles that flew for them.<p>

_That was easy enough..._ Sora thought to himself, before noticing that the green-haired girl was pointing the palms of her hands in the group's general direction, and bullet-like objects began to fly from her hands. A quick glance showed that the girl in black was also firing these bullets.

Combined with the icicles, Sora, Donald and Goofy now had a much harder time evading the attacks. Sora swung his Keyblade and rolled away from whatever he could, Goofy blocked the attacks with his shield rather skilfully, and Donald took to cowering behind Goofy and swatting at the bullets that flew from behind.

_Heh, they're trying to stop us from attacking at all._ Sora noted, barely avoiding having a giant spear of ice strike his head. _Well, guess I'd better turn the tables around!_

When the Keyblade Master felt that he had sufficient space, Sora crossed his arms, as if blocking. Just as a glurry of bullets, along with an icicle, were about to strike him, a field of energy surrounded Sora, stopping the bullets.

"Reflera!" The shielding spell suddenly exploded, spheres of energy launching themselves back at the three girls, who were too surprised to dodge.

Yells of pain filled the air as the girls were struck and fell from the sky, landing painfully on the ground. Well, Cirno fell back into the lake, but the result was still the same.

"Uh... maybe I overdid it?" Sora wondered, feeling a little guilty now. Sure, they were attacked, but these were still little girls, and the green-haired one looked like she was trying to hold back tears, while the blonde girl simply looked irritated.

Donald waddled to Sora's side, glaring smugly at the blonde girl. "Nah, you just gave 'em what they deserved!" He told the boy, who still didn't feel any better about it.

Ignoring the large duck magician, Rumia staggered to her feet, staring at Sora with narrowed eyes. "Fine, you win. But don't think we're the only opposition you've got!"

"About that," Sora replied, his Keyblade disappearing in a flash of light, "Why do you think we're the bad guys? What did we do?"

"As if you didn't know!" Rumia retorted. "Don't act like you never noticed sending all those monsters into Gensokyo!"

_Monsters? Does she mean the Heartless?_ Sora wondered. "Look, I didn't do anything like that, okay! I'm here to get rid of them! I swear!"

A splash was heard from the lake, and everyone looked to see Cirno wading to the bank, looking rather angry.

Stumbling onto dry land, the ice-blue girl pointed at Sora dramatically. "Don't think this means you're stronger! I was just held back by my companions!"

"Thank you, Cirno." Rumia growled, while the green-haired girl simply looked ashamed.

"These people are weird..." Donald mumbled under his breathe. Goofy stared at the girls as they began to argue amongst themselves.

"They are? they seem like normal kids to me." Goofy said.

"Whatever, let's just go find the Heartless." Sora shrugged. the trio turned and walked in the opposite direction, leaving Cirno and the blonde to bicker, while the green-haired girl watched them go in surprise and wonder. For bad guys, they were pretty merciful about their victory. Was their information wrong?

* * *

><p>"Ohohohoho~!" Yukari laughed at the fight's aftermath. "How quickly that match resolved! It was almost pointless, really!"<p>

"His opponent was Cirno, Daiyousei and Rumia," Ran pointed out with a sigh. "I honestly couldn't see that fight ending any other way."

"Now now, don't be too harsh on them!" Yukari giggled. "They just didn't know what they were dealing with. Speaking of, perhaps we should inform them that its time."

Ran nodded in understanding, although she was worried about this little scheme of Yukari's. The group Ran would notify was incredibly powerful. In fact, pretty much all of them had powers that either rivalled or possibly even surpassed gods. Even if this boy was chosen by some silly looking weapon to save every world in existence, just how the heck did Yukari expect that boy to survive a mili-second against them?

_Well, I'll just have to trust her judgement..._ Ran decided as she turned and left the room. Even if it seemed mad beyond belief, Yukari's little schemes usually worked out just fine in the end, and if that boy was capable of permanently quelling those unusual monsters...


	2. Chapter 2 Witch of the Magic Forest

Stepping into the rather large room, Ran came across a bickering group. Five rather different females seemed to be arguing over something, most likely this whole 'invading wierdo' situation. Well, except for the green-haired woman with sharp, red eyes. She looked highly amused by all this.

"Quiet down, please." Ran spoke up, and everyone fell silent, taking notice of her presence. Immediately, a black-haired girl, with a large, red ribbon in her hair and red-white robes rose to her feet, glaring at the shikigami.

"Ran! Why the heck are we wasting our time here? Those heartless guys could be terrorising people right now!"

"Please calm down, Reimu." Ran replied. Reimu opened her mouth to protest, but the green haired woman cut her off.

"Please Reimu, let us hear why Yukari gathered us all up here. I predict that woman has a fun little game up her sleeve!" She said excitedly, and directed her next statement to Ran. "Am I right?"

"I suppose so," Ran nodded, stepping closer to the group. Aside from Reimu and the green-haired woman, there was a girl with lavender hair and scarlet eyes, wearing a mop cap and pinkish dress, with bat-like wings sprouting from her back.

Standing by the window at the back of the room was a woman with long, silvery-white hair, decorated with many red slips of paper. These same slips were plastered along the puffy red trousers she wore, suspended over a white shirt. She gave an uninterested glance at Ran.

Sounding like she really didn't want to be here, the woman said, "Fun? Somehow I doubt anything's more fun than eliminating that pretentious princess. Why am I even here?"

Before Ran could give a response, the fifth girl spoke up. "Um, Mokou, we were gathered because that boy is kind of dangerous to Gensokyo. Why wouldn't you want to help?"

Mokou only snorted and went back to gazing out the window.

"If you would allow me to explain..." Ran sighed. When the group didn't look ready to break into noise again, Ran continued, "Okay, Yukari brought you here because she believes that only you five have what it takes to fight him."

Reimu looked around the room, confused. "Just us? Uh, aren't there gods and broken-as-heck youkai running about?"

"Apparently, this boy disables most of their power," Ran replied. "Don't ask me how, this is all just information passed down to me. Yukari is confident that you five are... uh, unique enough to avoid this."

Ran began pacing the floor, her arms folded within the sleeves of her robe, the kitsune shikigami's standard pose. "However, because of these Heartless creatures running around, Yukari believes that it's best that each of you stay within your territory and wait for him to come."

"What?" Reimu yelped, staring at Ran as if she were insane. "We can't do that! Who knows what'll happen if he's left unattended!"

"Would you rather leave your shrine undefended?" Ran asked, glancing at the angered shrine maiden. "I doubt the Heartless'll be kind enough to await your return before they begin ransacking it."

Reimu glowered at Ran, and slowly sat down again. Her shrine was always a weak point for Reimu. After seeing it get knocked down two or three times, she wasn't very willing to let strange creatures roam her grounds. Having a giant turtle live there as well may have also had a part in her decision to stay put.

"Besides, Yukari is certain that the boy will meet each of you," Ran continued, "When he does show up, Yukari advises caution. Don't go all out straight away until you know his capabilities for certain."

The green haired woman smirked mysteriously, which could be interpreted a number of ways. Not all of them pleasant, given her reputation. The fifth girl, dressed similar to Reimu, with light blue and white priestess robes, long, pale green hair decorated with a frog-faced hair clip and a snake-like bauble, looked somewhat worried. Mokou still looked uninterested.

The winged girl finally spoke up, "So, this boy will come to my home?" She snickered loudly at this. "Well, assuming he gets past my gate keeper, he still has to deal with Patchouli and Sakuya before he gets to me!"

"About that..." Ran faced the winged girl, who had very visible fangs when she smiled widely, "Yukari doesn't believe they could win a battle against him. She would rather they concentrate on keeping the Heartless at bay."

The girl frowned, not looking pleased. "Yukari can't order my servants around."

"Yukari knows more about this boy than you do," Ran said, glaring at the vampire with an unflinching, adamant gaze. "If she says your servants can't win, then they won't win. Don't throw them away so carelessly, Remilia."

The vampire, Remilia, huffed and folded her arms, glaring at the floor. Now that she had shut up, Ran could finish talking.

"Okay, Reimu, Sanae, you'd best return to your shrines. Remilia, please patrol the Forest of Magic. Mokou, Bamboo Forest, if you would."

With varying affirmative replies, from a 'yes!' to a non-committal grunt, five portals suddenly appeared behind Ran. Each portal seemed to lead to a weird, purple space with countless glaring eyes. It was an unnerving sight, although only Sanae, the green-haired shrine maiden, looked put-off by the method of transport.

With the exception of the green-haired woman, everyone took a portal and slipped through, disappearing from view. Ran glanced at the remaining woman, Yuuka Kazami.

Yuuka wore a red-plaited skirt, with a matching waistcoat over a white shirt. White gloves reaching her elbows were worn on each hand, which were clasped tightly on her lap. Leaning against the armchair she occupied was a pink umbrella, carried everywhere she went.

"Yuuka, you should know how to return home, right?" Ran asked, jerking her head at the last remaining portal. Yuuka worried Ran the most out of this group. Yukari must have been just as messed up as the woman before the kitsune to even suggest this woman as an opponent. Granted, pretty much everyone was probably out of that boy's league, but Yuuka's power was vast and almost incomprehensible. Ran herself was unbelievably strong, but was still a shikigami for Yukari Yakumo, the woman who essentially maintained Gensokyo. For someone like Ran to feel wary of Yuuka's strength was a cause for concern.

"Tell me Foxy, what is Yukari really planning?" Yuuka asked pleasantly.

"The eradication of the Heartless, and it's source." Ran replied, knowing that Yuuka wouldn't believe her.

"Mm-hm. And the source is that boy..." Yuuka adopted a thoughtful expression, staring at the ceiling as she leaned back. "A boy who runs around with a giant key, a duck dressed like a sailor, and the goofiest creature I've ever seen?"

"It would appear so," Ran shrugged, then frowned. "Wait, 'you've seen'? When did you see them?"

Yuuka giggled softly, grinning mischievously at Ran. "Oh, don't mind that. Slip of the tongue! Now..." The green-haired woman got to her feet, lifting her umbrella from its resting place to her shoulder. "I guess I should prepare myself! Or take a little nap. I can't imagine that boy finding me any time soon!"

Ran stepped aside as Yuuka approached the last gap and cheerfully entered, disappearing instantly. Ran watched her go, feeling slightly uneasy. Once again, Ran was convinced that this wasn't a good idea...

* * *

><p>"Thanks a lot Sora," Donald grumbled irritably. "You got us lost!"<p>

"Aw, cheer up!" Sora said with a small laugh, hacking a bush from the group's path with his keyblade. "Just think of it as exploring the area!"

"And remember Donald, we can't forget to smile!" Goofy reminded his companion. Donald kept his scowl up for another few seconds, before finally relenting and letting a small smile spread through his bill.

"Ahyuck! That's it!" Goofy chuckled. "Don't let those kids get to ya, Donald! They're just confused!"

_Although, I wonder where they got the idea we led the Heartless here..._ Sora wondered, hoping they'd find a path soon. they'd strayed from the original route in the hopes of finding a new area, but it seemed they had chosen the wrong area to investigate.

Or maybe not. Through the trees, Sora could barely make out some sort of small structure. A house? And it seemed to be within a clearing.

"I think I found something!" Sora announced, pointing to the house. Donald and Goofy peered through the trees and foliage, eventually spotting what Sora noticed.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go ask for some directions!" Donald said, and the group quickly made their way through the forest, eventually reaching the clearing in which the house was situated.

Looking closer, Sora thought the place may be abandoned or something. It was small, and somewhat run-down. But smoke was gently billowing from a chimney, so someone had to be inside...

Before anyone could walk up and knock, the door opened, and a blonde girl, who looked to be in her mid-teens, stepped out. Her hair was braided, and hung over her left shoulder, and wore a black, witch-like uniform with a white apron and pointed, black hat. She was scowling, emanating a rather moody aura.

"...Stay put, she says! Yukari's idea, she says! What, that darn hag and ugly miko can't appreciate my power, ze? I'm wiping those things out by the quadrillions, and I'm still considered a weak little-"

The girl spotted Sora and friends, and glared suspiciously at them, eyeing Sora's keyblade with intrigue. "Who the heck are you?"

"Oh, I'm Sora!" The spiky haired boy introduced himself, and pointed at his friends. "This here's Donald, and that's Goofy."

Donald and Goofy extended their greetings to the girl, who still looked somewhat bothered. "Well, call me Master Magician and Thief, Marisa. So, what d'you want? Don't you guys know it's dangerous here?"

"Because of the Heartless?" Sora asked, sounding rather unsure. As if he should maybe question the whole 'master thief' part.

"Yeah, those guys," The girl nodded. "Bigger nuisance than the fairies and ghosties. You destroy one, and two more pop up almost straight away. It's like they're never ending, ze..."

"Well, maybe we can help with that," Sora said, holding out his Keyblade. "Wiping Heartless out is our speciality!"

Marisa gave the group a sceptical look. She wondered just who they were. Youkai exterminators? Nah, the giant duck and goofy looking guy wouldn't hunt their own kind, would they? And that giant key... as silly as it seemed, Marisa wanted it. It radiated a certain kind of power. One that really appealed to the master thief.

"you beat those Hearts with that thing?" Marisa asked, a small smile on her face now. Apparently her previous mood had been forgotten.

"Hearts? Oh, the Heartless. Well, yeah." Sora answered. "This is pretty much the only way to beat them."

"Interesting..." Marisa muttered, and shrugged, "Well, if you say so. I say my Master Spark works just as well, but-"

The girl suddenly stopped talking, and looked around the area, her eyes narrowed. Sora felt a slight disturbance around him too, and tightened his grip on the Keyblade. Donald and Gooft tensed as well, weapons drawn and at the ready.

"Heh, these guys just can't take a hint," Marisa muttered, fishing a small object from her apron pocket. "Well, guess I'll just teach 'em their billionth lesson for the week, ze!"

At that moment, creatures emerged from the trees, or seemingly appeared from thin air. The insignia embroidered on each of them indicated that these were the Heartless.

Like on almost every other world, the Heartless here seemed designed to match the aesthetics of this place. Aside from the few basic 'Shadow' Heartless, there were also fairy-like creatures that took to the air, all with black hair, dark clothing, and spindly wings that didn't seem useful for flying at all.

"Stay back, kiddies, I'll wipe 'em all out, ze!" Marisa ordered.

"Not likely! I told you, this is our speciality!" Sora replied, running to the girls side. Along with Donald and Goofy, the four faced off against the horde of Heartless.

* * *

><p>Watching with an amused smile, Yukari commented, "Ran? You back yet? Come here, it's getting to a good bit!"<p>

Ran, having returned from informing the group of their task, peered into the ball once again, seeing that the boy had found Marisa Kirisame's residence. "Hm. That looks bad."

"Bad? Are you kidding!" Yukari laughed. "Marisa's been keeping those guys off her front lawn since they arrived! And that boy's seen far worse situations than a little group of mooks!"

"I was referring to the boy meeting Kirisame," Ran pointed out. "She doesn't know about your plan. What if she decides to accompany him? You say he has a knack for befriending others quite easily."

Yukari simply shrugged. "If that happens, everyone'll just assume she's brainwashed. Or not give a hoot and use it as an excuse to battle. Either way, it's inconsequential."

Ran didn't look convinced, but saw no need to argue further. Besides, there was a slightly more pressing matter at hand.

"Putting that aside, Yukari, I'm worried about Yuuka Kazami."

"Don't worry, she won't unleash her full might upon the boy." Yukari promised.

"Not that, she's... aware."

Yukari chuckled and glanced at her shikigami. "You're surprised, Ran? This is Yuuka Kazami, remember? She may be delightfully insane at times, but virtually nothing escapes her notice. Or grasp."

"But, I thought you needed them to remain unaware of-" Ran began, and Yukari waved the remainder of her sentence away.

"Whether Yuuka knows or not is irrelevant. It was the others I was worried about. There was a small chance they may not play along if I told them their real roles."

Ran frowned slightly. "Not even the good girl?"

"Well, what could any of them do, really? They're powerful, but against those pests... Eventually, they would tire themselves out and be overrun. Without a Keyblade, all we can do is divert them for brief periods," Yukari sighed sadly. "At least this way, they serve a greater purpose with better, long term results."

Ran looked back at the crystal ball, where the group had commenced battle with the Heartless. True enough, whenever the boy defeated a Heartless, she could see a small, pink light emerge from the remnants. Was that a devoured heart? Whereas Marisa, despite eliminating them at a much faster pace, didn't seem to extract hearts at all. Was that they main difference?

"You believe the Keyblade's Chosen One can overcome this world's trials?" Ran asked.

"Let's wait and see." Yukari replied, a an excited smile growing on her face.

* * *

><p>One after another, the Heartless fell. Swinging deftly and expertly, Sora vanquished each Heartless that tried to target him. The fairy-like Heartless tried to maintain a distance and fire magic bullets, similar to to the girls from before. However, when Sora wasn't practically spamming his Reflect magic to avoid hits, with Goofy blocking with his shield and Donald shooting Blizzard spells left and right, Marisa was pointing her octagonal shaped object at them and firing several dozen more star-shaped bullets in return. It wasn't long before the clearing was cleared of Heartless.<p>

"No problem!" Sora whooped, his Keyblade vanishing in a flash of bright light. Turning to the witch, Sora said, Told ya this was our speciality!"

"Congrats, you can beat a few weaklings," Marisa simply shrugged. "Come back and brag when you beat something remotely threatening, ze."

"Done that several times by now," Sora chuckled, and looked at the surrounding forest. "Anyway... which way to the nearest town or whatever? Oh, and have you seen any cloaked figures? Or a big guy named Pete? Or someone named Riku?"

Marisa blinked at Sora, a bemused expression on her face. "...Jeez, you're a busy guy. Let's see..." Marisa held up four fingers on her left hand, and counted down with her right, "Head south for fifteen minutes to reach the village. Not specific enough, but no anyway. Can't remember the last time I saw a guy not called Kou-er, Rinnosuke, and repeat previous answer for question four."

"Oh... well, thanks." Sora replied, somewhat down that Riku wasn't on this world either. On the plus side, the organisation, nor Pete, seemed to be around, and it shouldn't be a problem to reach that village...

"Well, we'd better get going. Lots of work to do, after all..." Sora said.

"You do that," Marisa grunted. "Meanwhile, I'm gonna go complain to the resident doll lover about how much Yukari sucks. Bye bye now."

Practically waving them away, Marisa re-entered her house, emerging a second later, carrying a broomstick over her shoulder.

_She really is a witch, isn't she...?_ Sora wondered as he watched her go. Marisa seemed to know her way through the forest, since she seemed to have her destination in mind. then again, she did live in it.

"Will she be all right? What if the Heartless show up again?" Donald asked.

"You saw how well she handled herself," Sora pointed out. "I think she can survive a walk through her own territory. Now, let's go to that village..."

At that moment, a high pitched voice called from above, "Hey, you three! Are you the bad guys everyone wants to beat up?"

Glancing at the sky, Sora saw a green-haired child descending slowly, looking somewhat worried and carrying a scroll.

"We're not bad guys!" Sora called back, wondering how anyone got that idea. "But we're probably who you're looking for!"

The child, who had thick, dark green hair, wore a white shirt with black trousers and a matching cape, and had antennae poking from their head. Sora couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, and wasn't sure if he should ask.

The child glanced nervously at Sora, Donald and Goofy, then dropped the scroll. Donald scrambled and caught the paper, which must have been weighed down by the ornate wax seal that bound the scroll.

"There, now let me go!" the child demanded, and the trio looked at each other in confusion.

"Uh... we're not stopping you?" Sora said, and the child blushed.

"Good! T-then good bye! And enjoy your beating!" The child shot above the tree tops and flew off as fast as he or she could. After a moment, Donald sighed.

"This is getting quite ridiculous already..." Donald muttered.

"Aw, don't worry! We'll clear our names soon enough!" Goofy said optimistically. With a nod, Donald glanced at the scroll, then handed it to Sora, who unsealed the paper and read its contents. It was clear that whoever wrote it was trying very,_ very_ hard to appear sophisticated, and failed very, _very_ horribly.

_"Dear Harbinger's of Doom_

_I write you this letter of challenge in the hopes of formerly settling this troubling matter in a duel._

_Should you accept (and you'd better), come to my mansion, located near the Misty Lake._

_Also, if you would be so kind as to not harm that girl who brought the letter? It's just, I made a little deal so she would deliver it, and Yukari said I can't use my own servants (the nerve! It would have been so much faster if I could send Sakuya!) But I guess I found a loophole._

_So, anyway. Duel, my home. Come soon. Or at night, if you'd prefer an outdoor battle. Not that it would matter, ha ha ha ha!_

_Here's a sketch of the area where my awesome home is._

_Your vanquisher, The Scarlet Devil~"_

After looking at the silly message for several moments, Donald was the first to finally speak. "...That was a girl?"

* * *

><p>Yukari gave an exaggerated sigh when Wriggle Nightbug delivered Remilia's letter. "Oh, that Remilia... five hundred years, and she still can't write to save her life."<p>

"I take it this boy is going to face Remilia first?" Ran said thoughtfully. "Hm... I can't say the 'Scarlet Devil' is exceptionally strong, but it still seems rather steep a challenge."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll do fine!" Yukari waved Ran's comment off. "I'll bet he's more annoyed about having to back track! Besides, it means he won't run into Reimu first."

Ran glanced at Yukari quizzically. "Why? Would she win?"

"Oh, it's not that..." Yukari sighed, a wistful expression on her face now. "I just want to save my precious little shrine maiden for last! It's soooo fitting! Don't you agree?"

"...Whatever you say." Ran sighed. For whatever reason, Yukari rather adored that shrine maiden. The kitsune couldn't really see why, but it didn't really matter. At the very least, it was quite amusing to see what a drunk Yukari would do when in Reimu's presence.

Snapping back to the present, Yukari said, "Anyway, first boss is Remilia. Quite the demotion, but whatever. While we wait for that..." Yukari waved her hand over the crystal ball, and the scene changed. After flickering and rippling like liquid, the ball displayed the grounds Sanae's own shrine, the Moriya shrine.

There, a small looking girl, wearing a large, rimmed straw hat with bulging frog's eyes attached to the top was busy talking cheerfully to a taller, purple haired woman, who looked a lot less happy outwardly.

"...The problem!" The smaller girl said with a shrug. "I know you don't like Sanae going up against those creatures, but we're here, right? Nothing's gonna get to my widdle Sanae~"

"Just because I won't let any living creature touch her without my consent, doesn't mean I'm happy with this arrangement." The older woman argued. "It's a meaningless battle, and Yukari's reasoning makes no sense! Ah, speak of the devil..."

Both females looked around the area, apparently noticing someone nearby. After a moment, the purple-haired woman said, "Yukari, you're listening in, aren't you?"

"Tee hee, so you noticed!" Yukari giggled at the crystal ball. On the recipients end, they merely heard Yukari's voice within their minds. "As usual, nothing escapes your notice, Kanako."

"I noticed first!" The smaller girl announced competitively.

"Of course you did, Suwako." Yukari said gently and almost condescendingly.

"What are you up to, Yukari?" Kanako asked roughly. "I don't much like you arranging Sanae to fight an 'all powerful enemy' that has brought such a scourge to Gensokyo."

Giggling softly, Yukari replied, "Oh calm down, I swear your sweet little girl will be perfectly fine."

Kanako snorted, clearly disbelieving. "Right. It makes sense for the bad guy to pull his punches. Yukari, try making sense for once."

"It makes perfect sense!" Yukari announced cheerfully. "Why don't you two go figure it out? In the mean time, would you kindly vacate the premises in about an hour? I'm guessing Sanae's turn will come up by then."

A distrusting aura emanated from the two women, and Ran couldn't really blame them. The two gods of Moriya Shrine were utterly protective of Sanae, and having someone like Yukari say, "Hey, there's a really bad person that I want Sanae to fight, so go away please', was probably a bit hard to take seriously.

Finally, Kanako said, "We'll keep our distance, but the very second Sanae looks to be in any serious danger-"

"It won't happen, but feel free to intervene in that scenario." Yukari said, then waved at the crystal ball. "Well, ta-ta for now!"

The image disappeared, and Yukari rose from her seat, yawning slightly.

"Well, I do believe it's time for a nap. Wake me when he finds Remilia, would you?" Yukari asked her shikigami, and left the room, leaving Ran to stare after her.

_You'd think I'd understand her thought process by now..._ Ran mentally sighed, sitting herself in the chair Yukari just vacated. _Ah well, let's see if this boy's gotten himself lost yet._

Waving her hand at the ball, an image flickered to life once again, showing Sora, Donald and Goofy.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so..." Sora stared at the badly drawn sketch of the mansion's location drawn under the mesage, trying to decipher the terrible lines and boundaries. Even with several notes and markers squeezed in, it was difficult to comprehend. "If I can somehow read this right... would that be the lake from earlier?" Sora pointed at a large, shaded patch of the drawing, with 'Misty Lake' scrawled within.<p>

"I guess so..." Donald muttered.

"Oh! Wasn't there a mansion in the distance?" Goofy asked, recalling the view from the lake's bank. "Maybe that was the mansion?"

Sora made a 'hm' sound, and looked at the area surrounding the lake. "Well, if this has any accuracy to it at all, we can walk from here..." Sora pointed at the area he guessed was the part they'd visited already. "And just walk around until we find a path..."

"Geez, why not just give a proper map?" Donald asked irritably.

Sora merely shrugged, rolling up the paper and depositing it within one of his pockets. "Well, as long as we have a rough idea of where to go. Come on guys!"

The trio set off, choosing what they hoped was the right direction to follow. Sora hoped that he could straighten this misunderstanding out soon. After all, he really couldn't waste time fighting just anyone when there was still Heartless running around!

* * *

><p><strong>Woo, second chapter done. With any luck, I'll get Donald and Goofy's characterisation fixed up, now that I'm playing a somewhat functional KH2. Let me know if I'm doing it right, 'kay?<strong>

**In other news, I'll probably add mini-chapters that5 are basically what Jiminy would write if this were in the game. Story recaps, character bios, all that stuff. Unless you all prefer I just get on with the story...**

**Anyway, hope you all enjoy the update!**


	3. Chapter 3 Meet the Vampire

"Did you deliver it?"

"Uh-huh."

"Is he coming?"

"I guess?"

"'You guess'? Why didn't you check?"

"Because he's evil!"

Remilia sighed loudly, glaring disapprovingly at the green-haired youkai before her. "Well, what if he doesn't come? Then I'll be waiting for nothing! You should've made sure!"

"Well, excuse me for not wanting to become Heartless food!" Wriggle argued defensively, glaring back at the vampire. "You should be glad I even delivered your message! What, was it too hot out for you to do it?"

Remilia narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Funny, for a little scaredy-cat, you've got quite a mouth. Why don't I remind you who you're talking to?"

Wriggle faltered slightly as Remilia advanced, but stood her ground. Sakuya Izayoi, Remilia's head maid, chose this moment to intervene. "Mistress, perhaps you should concentrate on preparing for your duel? I'll discipline the child."

Remilia and Wriggle glared at each other for a few seconds, before the young-ish vampire grunted and turned heel, leaving Sakuya to guide Wriggle out of the main hall and into a corridor leading to the west wing.

After a few steps, Sakuya halted, facing Wriggle. "So, tell me, what was this 'bringer of evil' like?"

"Huh? Um..." Wriggle recalled meeting with that boy and his weird-looking friends. "Well... they were a lot less mean than I imagined..."

"Oh? Anything else?" The silver-haired maid asked, and Wriggle shrugged.

"I kinda left before something happened. I think he said he was a good guy?"

Sakuya looked thoughtful for a minute. Something didn't seem quite right to her. Maybe it was because Yukari Yakumo was involved, but the maid felt that there was a misunderstanding somewhere.

Then again, what did it matter to her if there was? If that boy was good, then it was bound to work out. If not, then Sakuya would defend the mansion and everyone in it. That's all there was to it.

Glancing at the green-haired youkai, Sakuya said, "Well, that boy's coming here very shortly. I'd advise sticking around if you want to see what he is really like."

"Do I want to?" Wriggle asked, mostly to herself. After a moment of pondering, Wrigle asked the maid, "So... I'm not getting disciplined or something, am I?"

Sakuya grinned teasingly at the little youkai. "Why, do you _want_ me to?"

"N-no! Never mind!" Wriggle hastily protested, backing away nervously.

* * *

><p>Sora twisted the mapchallenge letters in several directions, as if the directions would magically make more sense that way. A thoughtful frown was on his face as he studied the crude sketch, trying to determine where he had led the group exactly.

"Sora, you got us lost, didn't you?" Donald asked, and Sora laughed nervously.

"No, we're not lost! I'm just... trying to figure out if another clearing was put in this map!"

As Sora had said, they had found yet another clearing. There weren't any houses or lakes within sight, but there was some sort of food cart nearby, which was unmanned.

Sora turned his attention back to the map, mentally retracing their steps from Marisa Kirisame's house.

_Okay, if we left in this direction... and we walked for about five minutes, then we should be..._ Sora waved his finger over the general area he suspected they had reached, before sighing and giving up.

"So, I say we keep walking forward!" Sora announced to a sceptical Donald and a somewhat curious Goofy, who was eyeing the food cart closely.

"If you're confused, we can wait for the owner of that stand," Goofy suggested. "She might not take long."

"I dunno, I kinda want to get this sorted out right now..." Sora muttered. "Wait, how d'you know the owner's a girl?"

Goofy shrugged. "I just kinda figured."

Sora opened his mouth to speak, but a scream overrode his reply. It was fairly close by, and accompanied by a lot of rustling.

"Stupid monsters! When I shoot you down-" A girl dressed in a brown dress, with wings sprouting from her back, burst onto the scene, pointing her palms at the trees she emerged from and firing bullet-like objects at her pursuers. "-You stay down! That's the rule!"

The girl landed several feet from the group's position, apparently not having noticed them quite yet. Several of the fairy-species heartless from earlier bobbed out of the trees, shooting their own bullets in the girl's general direction.

Sora, Donald and Goofy immediately sprung into action. Weapon's flashing into existence, Sora ran forward, leaping high above the girl, who realised with a start that others were present, and charged at the Heartless.

Quickly closing the distance, Sora took another leap, swinging his keyblade at the Heartless, destroying them fairly easily. As Sora began his descent, Goofy wound his arm back in a circular motion, before launching his shield at the group of Heartless. After pin-balling through several of them, and blatantly disregarding common sense, the shield boomeranged its way back to Goofy's hand.

Donald targeted the last three remaining Heartless with his Thunder spell, which quickly made short work of them.

With the threat eliminated, Sora's Keyblade returned to hammer space and the wielder turned to the surprised girl, who Sora noted had claw-like hands and, apparently, rather avian ears. "Hey, they're gone now, little girl. It's safe."

"Don't talk down to me like that!" the girl said in an annoyed tone, surprising Sora. "Treating me like a kid... But... thanks anyway."

Glancing at the group, the girl then said, "So, who are you guys? Never seen ya before."

"Oh, well..." Sora pointed to Donald and Goofy, naming them as he did, and introduced himself.

"Name's Mystia," The bird-like girl introduced herself, and sighed. "Sorry for snapping at you, but I'm a little frustrated right now. What with the monsters driving business away and stuff..."

"Oh, so you own that cart!" Goofy asked, glancing at said cart.

Mystia nodded, and began walking to it. "I guess I can give you guys a free meal, even if I didn't really need your help..."

Donald rolled his eyes as the group followed Mystia, who entered the cart and began to prepare a meal.

"Aw, you don't have to do this, you know," Goofy said modestly. "But, we're kinda lost. Would you happen to know where that big lake is? We need to go to the mansion there."

Placing something inside the stove, Mystia replied, "Eh? You wanna go to that vampire's house? Why?"

"Vampire?" Sora gasped in surprise, and the others glanced at him. "You mean, that Scarlet Devil person's a real life vampire?"

"...Yeah?" Mystia sounded confused about Sora's enthusiasm, said boy now grinning widely.

"First Santa, now this..." Donald sighed.

"So why're you guys looking for her anyway?" Mystia asked.

"Oh, well we received a letter of challenge!" Goofy informed the young youkai. "She seems to think we're bad guys!"

Mystia chuckled and shook her head. "Really? Seems like everyone's mistaken for a villain at least once... so, what'd you do?"

"Nothing, actually," Sora said, looking like his excitement had calmed down a little. "We only just got here, and then everyone acted like we were the bad guys! Well, except for that Marisa person..."

"Eh?" Mystia looked at the group, surprised. "Wait wait wait wait! Marisa Kirisame? Kleptomaniacal witch? Incident resolver with the twitchiest trigger finger in existence?"

The group gave each other a confused glance before Donald replied, "Um, well, she's a witch."

Mystia continued to stare with wide eyes for several seconds, before giggling to herself, returning to the cooking.

"Funny, of all the people, she should be one the first gunning for you!" Mystia said. "Well, you guys lucked out. That person's crazy strong."

"We noticed." Sora replied, remembering the magic show she put on when dispatching the Heartless. She certainly seemed formidable there, and Sora had the feeling that she wasn't really trying.

There was a few more minutes of idle banter. Sora had began asking questions about the vampire, while Donald and Goofy listened with amusement. Truth be told, they were quite curious about their night-walking adversary as well.

Finally, Mystia handed each of the trio a dish, which they eyed hungrily. They never got much of a chance to eat such good looking food, and the three of them were eager to dig in.

"Hm, that smells good!" A small voice said, and Mystia glanced around, confused, before noticing movement directly in front of her. A small bug wearing a suit and carrying some sort of book bounced onto the counter, studying the meal.

"Hey Jiminy! Want a bite?" Sora asked the cricket.

"Well, if it's all right with you..." Jiminy replied, and Sora carefully cut a chunk of his fish-like meal small enough for him to eat.

Mystia stared at Jiminy for several seconds before asking, "And he is...?"

"Ah, my apologies!" Jiminy faced the sparrow-youkai and bowed low, tipping his top hat to her. "Jiminy Cricket's the name! Chronicling the travels of Sora and his friends!"

Mystia stared at Jiminy for several more seconds, before looking up at Sora and saying, "You have a cricket who writes stories?"

"Is that weird?" Sora asked.

"Honestly? No. Just rare."

* * *

><p>"Ugh, filler." Ran yawned, watching the current scene with disinterest. Couldn't that boy get on with it already? The sooner this silly little game of Yukari's was resolved, the sooner that boy could pitch in with eliminating the real threat to Gensokyo. This whole ordeal seemed rather pointless. Then again, Yukari always knew far more than she let on. There was clearly an ulterior motive to having that Keyblade Wielder fight five rather strong opponents.<p>

"Ran~! What'cha doing?" An enthusiastic voice asked from behind, which Ran recognised immediately as her own shikigami.

"Nothing Chen. Just doing Yukari's more mind-numbing work." Ran replied dully. "I'll bet this is why she snuck of to bed..."

Chen, a cat-like girl with two-black tails and light brown hair, skipped to the crystal ball and peered inside, her face awash with curiosity.

Grinning widely, Ran pointed at the scene, "Hey look! Mystia!"

"Yep."

"Who's she hanging out with? Oh! Don't tell me that's her boyfriend!"

"Nope." Ran told the giggling Chen, who didn't seem to listen.

"Ha ha ha! Mystia's got a boyfriend! Ooooh, I can't wait wait to tell Cirno! She'll be all like, 'But he's a boy!' and I'll be like, 'I know! It's weird!' And-"

"I get it, Chen, boyfriends are rare here," Ran sighed, massaging her temples. "Now, please quieten down. I'm trying to concentrate here."

Chen did quieten down, but only for a moment. Glancing at the ball again, Chen asked, "So, why are you watching? Oh! Oh! Are you spying on their first date?"

"No, I'm making sure something doesn't go wrong here." Ran sighed.

* * *

><p>"Wow, that was great!" Sora complimented the sparrow-youkai, patting his stomach contentedly. Donald and Goofy also looked rather pleased. Mystia smiled slightly, always happy to hear how awesome a cook she was.<p>

"Eh, it's nothing special." She replied modestly.

"What was it anyway?" Sora asked.

Lamprey."

"Huh. Never heard of it. Well, thanks for the food, but we really gotta reach that mansion..." Sora replied, getting to his feet. "Hey, could you point the way for us?"

Mystia thought for a moment, before shrugging and exiting her cart. "Might as well come with, I need to check up on someone anyway."

"Great! I bet Sora would just forget where to go!" Goofy chuckled, and earned a scowl from Sora.

Jiminy hopped onto Sora's arm, skilfully making is way back to his usual position, nestled within Sora's hood. There, he opened his journal to jot down a few more details of their experiences in the world.

When it looked like everyone was ready, Mystia led the group in the mansion's direction. It was at least fifteen minutes before they saw the mansion through the trees, along with the nearby lake.

"So, who do you need to see over here?" Sora asked conversationally.

"My friend. She's been having a bit of trouble with her... um..." Mystia frowned as she tried to think of the most fitting description. "Her... well, guardian?"

Sora, Donald and Goofy gave her a questioning look. Which went unnoticed, since they were behind the sparrow. regardless, she continued, "Well, it's an on/off thing they have. I dunno why they even see each other, really. It's always 'She spiked my tea' this and 'she tried to tickle me to death that'..."

"Now I'm even more confused..." Sora mumbled.

"Forget it, then. 'Sides, I'm not spilling any details," Mystia replied as they reached the mansion grounds proper. "Well, here we are."

the group looked at the towering mansion, closed off by a large, stone wall and steel gate.

_So this is the vampire's house...?_ I'll bet he's rich. Sora thought, boyish excitement taking over once again. Stepping forward, the keyblade wielder stated, "C'mon, let's go!"

"Will the vampire even be awake?" Donald asked doubtfully, shielding his eyes as he stared at the sky. "It's bright daylight out here!"

"Oh, she will be," Mystia said reassuringly, following after Sora. "Remilia's kinda weird like that."

"Oh, she's a girl?" Sora said in mild disappointment. He had been imagining a tall figure cloaked in shadows, with glowing eyes and glinting fangs. but if Sora were to consider everyone that he had met so far, then that Remilia person as probably a young girl as well.

_Is that the major theme of this world, by any chance?_ Sora wondered.

Mystia approached the gate, peering into the mansion's grounds with a small frown. "Huh... I don't see China anywhere. Weird, she's usually sleeping right over there..."

"China?" Goofy repeated.

"The gate keeper. Eh, whatever, let's go!"

Mystia pushed the gates open and led the group towards the mansion's entrance. Sora, Donald and Goofy glanced all around them, taking in the huge grounds and building with wonder.

Mystia knocked on the door, and awaited a reply. After several seconds of silence, the doors creaked open slowly, with no one on the other side.

"... Is this place haunted as well?" Sora asked with an amused smirk.

"Maybe, but I guess Remilia's being all show-offey for some reason." The sparrow shrugged. The group progressed inward, staring at the sprawling foyer with interest. Sora couldn't help but compare it to Beast's castle, or that mansion in Twilight Town.

A high pitched cackle echoed around the area, startling the four. Sora drew his Keyblade in anticipation, looking for the source of the laugh.

"I see you made it, boy," The voice said, before chuckling maddeningly. Donald and Goofy placed their backs to Sora, covering each other's blind spots. "Heh, I told them my directions were perfect!"

"Uh, Remilia?" Mystia spoke up. "Whatever you're doing, can it wait? I wanna see if Wriggle's here."

"Hush, you!" The voice demanded angrily. "I'm trying to be all cool and mysterious here!"

"Look, we don't wanna fight you!" Sora yelled to the ceiling, having not much choice in where to direct his voice. "We didn't bring any heartless here, there's been a mistake!"

Another irritating chuckle that sounded like it was trying too hard to be sophisticated was heard. "As if I'm going to believe a liar!"

"Sora!" Donald pointed to a flight of stairs several feet in front of them, where a silver haired woman dressed as a maid had suddenly appeared. She stared blankly at the group for several seconds before speaking. "My mistress is interested in a duel with you, supposed villain."

"Yeah, I heard," Sora replied, facing the woman. "So, where's your mistress?"

The fluttering of many wings began to fill the foyer, and the group stare at the ceiling once again, where a flock of bats had suddenly appeared, converging at the roof until they suddenly flew at the silver haired woman.

"May I present to you..." the maid spoke, stepping aside and lifting her hand in the direction of the flock, which seemed to be piling onto each other. "The mistress of the mansion, the Scarlet Devil and most beloved entity of the forest..." Even the maid didn't sound too sincere, as if she was merely reciting some rehearsed line

The bats had begun to glow a pale crimson colour, and the group watched entranced as a rough, humanoid shape began to emerge. Scarlet eyes blinked to life, followed by a fanged grin, and finally the 'Scarlet Devil' emerged.

"Remilia Scarlet, your final opponent!" The young vampire declared in a booming voice, pointing dramatically at Sora, who watched in bemusement.

No one said anything for several seconds, until Mystia cleared her throat nervously. "So uh, hi. Miss Izayoi, is Wriggle here?"

"Ah yes, you'll find her watching from the crack of the door down there. " Sakuya replied, pointing at a door to their right, where a slightly ajar door was located. A green-haired figure hastily retreated upon being referenced.

"Thanks!" Mystia left the scene, disappearing behind the door to look for her friend.

"Well?" Remilia said, wondering why the boy and his strange looking friends hadn't commented on her awesome entrance yet.

Eventually, Sora replied, "You're not as scary as I'd imagined, to be honest."

* * *

><p>"Ha ha ha ha ha! The weird boy has a giant key!" Chen laughed at the current scene, and Ran sighed as she nodded in agreement. "How funny! I mean, what's a key supposed to do?"<p>

"Defeat the Heartless, apparently."

"Oh. Well, why can't he use a cooler weapon?"

"Because swords are too violent or something. Now Chen, please go wake Yukari. I believe she wanted to see what's about to take place."

Chen saluted the kitsune dutifully. "Sure thing! One wake up call coming right up!"

Quickly darting from the room, Ran continued to watch the confrontation between Remilia and the Keyblade wielder. Remilia seemed a tad more interested in theatrics than actually defeating the 'source' of Gensokyo's current plight, but that was to be expected, really.

After a moment of what seemed to be Remilia crying over her opponents lack of reaction to her entrance, Ran felt Yukari arrive through one of her gaps, apparently not bothering with a ten second walk. "Hey, Ran. Chen's being loud again. So, they fighting yet?"

"Just about to," Ran replied, getting to her feet to allow Yukari her seat. Chen rushed back into the room at that point, sitting by Ran's side as Yukari began to watch the crystal ball again. "So, what's gonna happen now?"

Yukari smiled brightly as she leaned back in her chair slightly. "The first test, Chen."

* * *

><p>"Look, I'm sorry! It's just-"<p>

"You have no respect for your opponents, do you? No wonder you're evil!"

"But I'm not-!"

"Mistress, the duel."

"What about it? Oh, right..." Sighing, Remilia faced Sora again, glaring reproachfully at him. "All right you, I'm gonna defeat you here. Prepare for humiliation and stuff!"

Sora opened his mouth to protest his innocence again, then decided it was pointless. That girl wasn't going to listen. For now, it looked like he would have to get the fight over with and clear the misunderstanding when she wasn't in such a battle-ready mood.

"Oh yes! And before we start..." Remilia turned her attention to Donald and Goofy. "You two! Don't butt in! This is a one-on-one!"

"Why is that?" Donald challenged.

"Because I'm not allowed help either!" Remilia stated grudgingly. "So it's only fair!"

"Guys, I don't really need help here," Sora told his friends with a small laugh. "Sure, she's a vampire, but she's still a kid."

Remilia's eyes flashed dangerously at Sora's remark. "A kid, you say? Ha! You haven't learned much, have you?"

The Scarlet Devil leaped into the air, where she floated several feet above Sora, grinning confidently down at him. "I'll show you what that line of thinking will accomplish!"

"All right, but don't cry when I win!" Sora replied with a small smirk. Donald and Goofy, while rolling their eyes at Sora's overconfidence, where sure that he didn't need back up. It wasn't like he was a horrible weakling on his own, after all. Besides, they could at least watch out for any Heartless or some other outside interference.

When the two had placed themselves by the mansion's entrance, Remilia chuckled loudly.

"I'll end your reign of terror here, boy!"

With an exasperated sigh, Sora replied, "I really hope everyone in this world doesn't have a listening problem..."

* * *

><p>"It's times like these that I wish music would spontaneously start up," Yukari sighed wistfully. "All our battles would be so much more awesome that way!"<p>

"I suppose they would." Ran replied,, watching the crystal ball display its scenes.

"That's it!" Yukari declared suddenly, startling Chen. "We need to find those Prismrivers! They can sit in the background and play epic battle themes!"

"Is that really necessary?" Ran asked.

"Yes! It is imperative!" Yukari declared excitedly, before sighing and slumping back in her chair. "Oh, but who knows where they went... and the fight's about to start..."

_Nice to know she's having fun with this..._ Ran thought as she and Chen went back to watching the battle. The kitsune shikigami was slightly nervous of the battle's outcome. After all, what if Remilia went too far? What if the keyblade wielder went too far? Just how many problems could possibly arise simply because Yukari thought it'd be interesting to withhold certain bits of information? In fact, the boy probably could have done something about the source of the Heartless problem by now!

Meanwhile, Yukari herself was thinking;_ Well Sora, show me what power you possess on your own. Give me a reason to continue the game._

Smiling in anticipation, Yukari watched as the battle started.

* * *

><p><strong>Hm... Is it me, or does this chapter seem a bit off? Maybe I'm just fretting too much over characterisation...<strong>

**Anyways, next chapter will be the highly anticipated battle between Sora and Remilia. Can our Keyblade Wielder triumph over the loli vampire? Is there any doubt about the resolution of the battle? How does Jiminy not fall from Sora's clothing when he's jumping all over the place? Find some of these answers in the next update of the yet-to-be-horribly-titled-chapter 4!**


	4. Chapter 4  VS Scarlet Devil

It had begun. The battle to prove Sora's innocence started with a small burst of her danmaku bullets, which was easily evaded by the keyblade wielder. Remilia casually released more short bursts at his location, while Sora barely had to side step.

_Is she just playing around? _Sora wondered suspiciously, swatting a stray bullet away for the sake of variety in his defence. _Or is she just really weak?_

"Just how long do you plan to stay down there?" Remilia called tauntingly. "Or can you not fly?"

Sora glanced quickly around the main hall, looking for something that would help him reach the vampire. Seeing the problem, Donald called his advice to Sora.

"Sora! Remember, you have to believe to fly!"

"But we're not in Neverland!" Sora pointed out, and quickly leaped away from another burst of bullets.

"No outside help!" Remilia demanded.

_Still, I suppose it's worth a shot... _Sora wondered. Recalling his time in Neverland with Peter Pan, flying around that pirate ship and defeating Captain Hook, Sora grinned at Remilia, who raised an eyebrow.

Crouching slightly, Sora sprung into the air, adding a rather unnecessary forward flip in the process. Ascending higher and higher, Sora was surprised to find that he was actually in the air. Maybe this world actually did work the same way?

He was almost level with Remilia when gravity decided to slap him back to ground level. Sora fell to the ground, where a look of disappointment crossed his face.

"That was a high jump!" Donald helpfully pointed out.

"I don't think believing works here!" Sora replied with annoyance in his voice.

Remilia just giggled at the display, folding her arms as she spoke. "My my, so you really can't fly? How pathetic! Even toddlers can master such a basic spell!"

"Really?" Sora sounded more surprised than offended as he faced Remilia. "Wow. I'm not used to the magic 'round here, so I don't know how to do anything besides my own brand."

Cocking her head to the side slightly, Remilia repeated, "Your 'own brand'?"

Sora pointed his keyblade to the ceiling, a confident grin on his face. "Sorry if this hurts ya, but I don't want to prolong a this battle to drag on because of a misunderstanding. Thunder!"

A bolt of lightning fell from the ceiling, above Remilia's position. She yelped as the voltage coursed through her body briefly, leaving the vampire shaken. Sakuya remained impassive at the scene, while Donald nodded in approval.

"Gawrsh, was that maybe too much?" Goofy asked. "That girl looks ready to cry."

Hearing that comment, the watery-eyed vampire glared at Goofy. "Cry? Cry? Do you have any idea who I am? I am the Scarlet Devil! The strongest creature in this forest! A feeble spell like that could never hurt me!"

"Look, can we just stop and talk?" Sora asked, lowering his Keyblade. "We can clear this whole thing up in a few seconds if you'd-"

"You dare order me around?" The enraged and embarrassed vampire yelled, now directing her fury towards him. "Dummy! You can't tell me what to do! Scarlet Meister!"

Wondering just what exactly the vampire's problem was, Sora began to evade the seemingly endless swarm of blood-red bullets coming is way. Each bullet seemed to have a completely different level of speed, making prediction difficult. The various sizes also made it harder to judge exactly what safe spot there was.

"Wak! I can barely see him!" Donald gasped as he watched the Scarlet Devil launch her attack. "How can she shoot so many bullets?"

"I dunno, Donald, but I thin Sora can pull through!" Goofy said confidently.

_Too much, too much, too much! _Sora thought frantically.

For now, all Sora could do was hop from one spot to another, either dodging the random trajectory of each bullet, or blocking with his keyblade. He was glad not to have tried to reflect the bullets back. He would have completely drained his magic energy and be completely defenceless.

Come on, there has to be a blind spot! Sora wondered, feeling a bullet or two graze his head, and another brushing by his right leg. Remilia seemed completely focused on summoning more and more bullets, with no end in sight.

_... Well, might as well give it a try!_ Sora decided, and waited for just the right moment.

Miraculously, some sort of path opened up. The bullets had flown every which-way and gave him a clear shot at the vampire. Winding his arm back, Sora threw the keyblade, which began to glow with a faint light as it sailed through the air.

Seeing the weapon heading her way, Remilia hastily retreated, stopping her deluge of bullets. Ducking low, she narrowly avoided being struck. As it passed, the keyblade disappeared in a flash of light, warping back to Sora's hand.

With an ever confident smile, Sora threw the Keyblade again. Remilia was too busy looking over her shoulder, trying to find out where the weird blade had gone to notice, and turned her to face Sora, only to have the hand guard strike her forehead.

"Ah..." Sora winced as he saw his opponent clutch at her forehead painfully with a sharp cry. "I, uh... didn't mean to actually _hit_ you, just..."

Confused, Goofy spoke up, "But Sora, you were throwing your keyblade at her! Aren't you supposed to hit someone doing that?"

"It was just a scare tactic!" Sora protested defensively. "Hey, you okay?" Sora directed the question at Remilia, who was shaking violently.

"That... didn't... hurt..." Remilia gasped, tears threatening to burst forth. Forcing herself to lower her arms, Remilia glared hatefully at the guilty Sora, her teeth gritted furiously.

"That's it! I'm not... p-playing around!" Remilia wailed, and raised her hand. More of those bats flocked from nowhere to pile upon her hand. Eventually, their bodies seemd to merge together and drastically change in shape and colour. After a moment, a golden coloured spear, even taller than Remilia, was in her grasp.

After twirling the large spear like a baton, she pointed the business end to Sora, a large, fanged scowl on her face. "You are going to _pay_ for that!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Sora stated, realising he had just lost any chance of peacefully resolving this particular conflict.

* * *

><p>"What a baby," Yukari giggled at the scene. "I'll bet that boy's taken harder hits from his friends without crying!"<p>

"Remilia's serious now," Ran pointed out. "She won't be holding back. I guess he's finished."

Yukari shook her head. "Not quite, Remilia's mad, but that'll only be to her detriment. If anything, she's made the trial much easier."

"So is there any meaning to this battle now?"

"Eh, might as well see if he can handle an angry vampire." Yukari shrugged.

Chen looked from one woman to the other, somewhat confused. "Hey, what are we talking about now?"

"Nothing Chen, just another game." Ran sighed.

"Oh! Is it a fun one?" Chen asked excitedly.

"Very," Yukari replied with a broad grin. "Just watch and see what happens."

* * *

><p>"That hurts, Wriggle, hiding away from me." Mystia said teasingly to the fire fly, who looked somewhat guilty as she twirled her fingers.<p>

"Sorry, Mysty... but you were with... that guy, and he's..."

"Hm?" Mystia glanced at the slightly ajar door behind them, were the sounds of battle could be heard. "Sora? Yeah, what about him?"

Glancing at the corridor behind them conspiratiorially as if afraid of eavesdroppers, Wriggle quietly stated, "He's the bad guy, isn't he? Why are you even with him?"

Mystia frowned in confusion. "Him? A bad guy? Where'd you get that idea?"

"That's what everyone else says." Wriggle replied.

"Well, for a bad guy, he's a decent enough person," Mystia shrugged. "Whatever, that's not what I want to talk about."

Wriggle knew where the conversation was heading already, and she turned away from Mystia, arms folded defiantly.

"I told you, I'm not forgiving her!"

"That's all well and good, but do you really think hiding here is gonna keep her away?" Mystia asked. "You know what Yuuka's like, if she wants to see you, she'll _see you."_

A pause, and Wriggle replied, "So? I'll just ignore her then!"

Mystia sighed in exasperation. "Remind me how well that's worked for others?"

Wriggle didn't reply, and Mystia knew her friend was feeling conflicted. It was a rather silly thing to get angry about, but seeing as Wriggle was far from normal in Yuuka's presence, the 'harmless prank' of pointing a can of empty bug spray in her general direction was akin to referring to her as a male. Which was a rather serious offence, she'd have you know.

"Well, stay angry if you want," Mystia sighed, "We all know you'll be BFF's next week anyway. Let's see how Sora's doing!"

Wriggle craned her neck to see Mystia open the door fully, bearing witness to Sora throwing his Keyblade against Remilia's skull, causing Mystia to flinch.

"Ouch, I think I heard a crack!" Mystia commented.

"You think he broke her skull?" Wriggle asked, nervously stepping next to her friend.

"Well, one things for sure; that was most definitely a critical hit." Yuuka murmured.

Mystia and Wriggle nodded in agreement, before stiffening in surprise and shock. Shakily, Wriggle turned her head sidewards and upwards to find a green-haired woman standing by her side, arms folded and wearing a thoughtful expression.

"W-when you get here!" Mystia demanded to know, pointing a talon at the woman.

Yuuka merely shrugged, and absent mindedly reached out with one of her arms to pat Wriggle's head, who immediately shrank away from her touch.

"Not too long, a few seconds I guess," Yuuka replied, then seemed to notice that Wriggle had shifted. Yuuka glanced at the fearful young youkai with a small smile. "Still sore about that? Did I really offend you that badly?"

Wriggle merely shuddered as she huddled next to Mystia, and Yuuka sighed. "Well, that won't do. It breaks my heart to know you hate me so..."

"Well, what'd you expect?" Mystia challenged bravely, hoping that her being young would prevent Yuuka from throwing a bullet in her direction, as she was prone to do to anyone else.

"I suppose you have a point," Yuuka admitted lamentably. "It was an ill-concieved joke, even if it was just an empty container."

Both girls were visibly surprised at the admission. Usually, Yuuka would merely brush it off as a harmless joke and simply wait for it to be forgotten. For her to admit her faults... was Yuuka feeling ill?

"I suppose an aplogy is in order..." Yuuka muttered with a nod. "Yeah, a private apology will do!"

"...Why 'private'?" Mystia asked suspiciously, while Wiggle blushed slightly.

Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy were torn between the two scenes: Sora fighting an enraged vampire, and a mysterious woman talking to Mystia and that tomboyish messenger girl from before. Just what were they doing there?

Even without the sounds of battle, neither of them would have been able to hear what was said, but the woman didn't seem too well liked by the kids. In fact, both Donald and Goofy were sensing a dangerous aura around the person.

"Who is she?" Donald asked in a whisper.

"Maybe she's related to the Scowling Demon?" Goofy replied quietly.

"That's _'Scarlet Devil', _and they don't even look remotely alike!" Donald pointed out.

Goofy thought for a moment, and replied, "True, but sometimes family members can look nothing alike..."

Donald's reply was replaced with a 'wak!' when a stray bullet from Remilia nearly struck him over the head. Glaring reproachfully, Donald saw that Remilia had now decided to abandon long ranged attacks, and had closed in with her spear. Her weapon of choice still gave her a ranged advantage over Sora, and despite the blind aggression in her strikes, was still a skilled fighter.

Sora was forced to constantly retreat, while blocking strikes with his Keyblade. It surpised him just how skilled the vampire was with the weapon. Her attacks were precise and swift, with a shocking amount of power for someone that looked ten years old.

Still, Sora wasn't going to back down. As reluctant as he was to fight someone over this misunderstanding, defeating Remilia was the only way Sora was sure would end the battle.

After side stepping a thrust from Remilia's spear, Sora's keyblade seemed to ignite in flames, quickly circling his body. Thankfully, this caused the Scarlet Devil to falter slightly and halt her attack. Seeing his chance, Sora reached out with his left hand, gripping the spear just below its blade.

"Sorry about this!" Sora apologised, swinging his keyblade at her torso. Using the blunt side, he didn't cause any serious wounds, but the power remained. Crying out in pain, Remilia stumbled back, clutching at her chest, while Sora wrenched the spear from Remilia's grip and threw it behind him.

"Giving up yet?" Sora asked, and Remilia's eyes glowed with fury.

"You seriously think you have me beat?" Remilia growled, sending a chill down Sora's spine. "You dummy! Do you have any idea who I am?"

Remilia extended her right hand, a sphere of scarlet light forming in her palm. Sora prepared to defend himself, watching her movements closely.

Winding her arm back, Remilia declared, "I'll show you_ proper _magic! Spear the Gungnir!"

Remilia threw the orb of light, which travelled at a shockingly high speed. Sora barely registered it forming into the shape of a spear before attempting to block with his keyblade. He wasn't fast enough, and the light struck his chest, sending him flying back.

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy cried out as the boy fell onto his back. Grunting with pain, Sora immediately hopped back to his feet to see Remilia's physical spear had split into a flock of bats and were reforming in her hand.

"I hope that hurt, you bully!" Remilai called tauntingly.

"Look, I'm sorry!" Sora repeated. "I didn't mean to hurt you, so just calm do-"

Remilia sped forward, not listening to a word her opponent said. Ignoring his pained chest, Sora was once again on the defensive. Remilia seemed a bit more precise and controlled than before, pushing Sora to his limits. It wasn't long before Remilia had him backed to the wall, were she grinned triumphantly.

"Once I've beaten you up, I'm having you for my supper!" The young vampire threatened. "And if you apologise, I just _might_ let you live as my familiar!"

Panting slightly, Sora gazed deifiantly at Remilia. "Already apologised twice, and I'm afraid I can't stick around. I've got names to clear and friends to find."

"...Do you now?" Remilia muttered curiously. What an odd thing for a villain to say. Perhaps it was some cheap ploy to avoid a thorough thrashing? Remilia simply dismissed the thought. Victory was imminent, no way was she getting distracted now.

The scarlet light began to form in Remilia's hands again, and Sora gritted his teeth. It was_ that _attack again...

"Don't feel bad about losing to me," Remilia said condescendingly, winding her arm back. "I _am_ the Scarlet Devil! There's no way I could lose!"

"This looks bad!" Donald declared. "He needs help!"

"Your friend will be fine," Sakuya informed Donald, who cried out in surprise at the maid's sudden appearance. "My Mistress is still fighting within spell card regulations."

Donald and Goofy gave each other confused looks. "Spell card regulations?" They parroted.

Sakuya merely gave them a sideways glance. _They don't know of the spell cards? Just where are they from? _The head maid wondered.

Remilia, her spell ready, threw the light once again, shouting, "Spear the Gungnir!"

The vampire was barely five paces away, and given the distance between her and Sora, a hit was practically gauranteed. The keyblade wielder had one trick left to get him out of this situation, but it was going to be his last magic spell for a little while.

Just as Remilia made to throw the spear of light, Sora lifted his keyblade and incanted his Reflera spell.

If he was a split second later, Sora would have been hit. The light was stopped by his barrier, which momentarily surprised Remilia.

_This is it! _Sora waved his keyblade, shattering the barrier into several orbs of light, which rushed towards Remilia, each orb containing the same amount of power as her Gungnir spell.

With a surprised and pained yelp, Remilia was thrown off of her feet, landed in a crumpled heap several paces away. Sora breathed a sigh of relief before cautiously stepping forward.

"Hey, uh... you okay, there?" Sora asked nevously, wondering if he had thoroughly destroyed any chances of the young vampire actually listening to him.

Remilia struggled to her hands and knees, her gaze cast down. From the shaking of her shoulders, she was struggling not to cry. Climbing to her feet, Remilia kept herself in control as she glared at Sora spitefully.

"I. Hate. you." Remilia whispered. "You're nothing but a mean little-"

Remilia was interrupted when Sakuya, appearing out of seemingly nowhere, placed a hand upon her shoulder.

"What is it, Sakuya? You can't interfere, remember?" Remilia stated with a growl, glancing at ehr maid.

Giving Sora another piercing gaze, the silver-haired maid replied, "My lady, perhaps we should end the fight here."

"W-what?" Remilia rounded on her maid, rage beginning to boil within her once again. "Are you mad? I'm supposed to beat him! I was totally winning right there!"

Donald stifled a snicker at that, while Sora tilted his head in puzzlement, wondering where the vampire had gotten that idea from, considering he had just bounced her own attack back at her.

"Then, we postpone the outcome," Sakuya corrected. "Besides, this boy hasn't acted in the way we were led to believe. Perhaps this whole ordeal is a waste of time."

"Thank you!" Sora said happily, glad that someone had noticed he wasn't the villain here.

Remilia glared between Sora and Saukya, wanting to continue pummeling Sora for that absolutely _painful_ smack to the head, as well as the more recent transgression of smacking her with an orb, but she had an idea that everyone present would just get in her way.

With a defeated sigh, Remilia said, "Fine, I'll let you off today. But don't go ahead and think you actually won!" She declared, pointing at Sora. "I'll finish demolishing you another day!"

"Sure you will, Rems." Yuuka chided cheerfully, finally drawing notice from everyone else. Remilia rounded upon the woman, fists clenched.

"What the heck are you doing in my house?" Remilia demanded. "Trying to muscle in on my victory?"

"No no, I was only here to observe!" Yuuka reassured, stepping forward. As she did, Sora felt a wave of unease pass over him, and he instinctively readied his Keyblade, watching Yuuka carefully.

Seeing his movement, Yuuka chuckled and said, "You can put that away, It's not my turn yet."

"Your 'turn'?" Sora repeated suspicously as Donald and Goofy moved to either side of him, weapons also drawn.

With a mischievous grin, Yuuka glanced at the vacated front door, were an odd portal suddenly appeared. Pointing at it, the green haired woman said, "Through there, you'll find your next trial. Might be a_ little _more difficult, but I have confidence in your success."

"Huh? Trial? What are you talking about?" Sora demanded.

"Are you an ally?" Donald added, pointing his staff at her.

"And would you happen to be related to the Scarlet Devil?" Goofy chipped in, drawing looks of bewilderment, surprise and shock from everyone that wasn't Yuuka, who only smiled brightly enough to potentially harm Remilia' sun-sensitive skin. Her expression still came across as sinister.

Answering Sora first, Yuuka replied, "Oh, let's just say that the answer to this deep, complex and mind-boggling mystery as to who framed you will be answered in due time."

Turning her gaze to Donald, Yuuka said, "And you may think of me as one, if that'll help you sleep at night. From what I hear, it actually helps a lot!"

Finally, Yuuka answered Goofy, sounding positively amused. "And no, I have no relation to Remilia here, but I certainly wouldn't mind having her for a sister!"

"I'd rather throw myself into the sun than have you as a sister." Remilia stated bluntly.

"But we're just meandering now," Yuuka added as if Remilia hadn't spoken, and pointed to the portal again. "You'd best go now. The sooner you leave, the sooner you sort this whole mess out, eh?"

the trio were still suspicious, naturally, and didn't make a move. Sakuya turned to Sora, a small, reassuring smile on her face.

"Don't worry, that gap will carry you safely. I think you have a chance of figuring things out."

"Thanks..." Sora replied, far more willing to trust the silver haired woman. Remilia merely huffed and refused to look at the group as they made their way to the portal. As they neared it, Sora noticed several eyes from within the portal, as well as what appeared to be red ribbons tied to the ends of the portal, and he stopped uneasily.

Opening his mouth to comment upon the disturbing oddity, Sakuya then said, "I know, it's weird but harmless. Unless your mind is easily broken."

"Well, looks like you're in trouble now, Sora!" Donald quipped.

"Oh yeah? Think you can handle it?" Sora challenged.

With a chuckle, Goofy threw an arm around the other's shoulders. "I'm sure we'll be fine if we leave together!"

Glancing back at the others, Sora eyed Yuuka suspiciously, finding himself unable to trust her completely. A feeling that everyone seemed to share, if their reactions were any indication.

"Well, tootaloo then!" Yuuka waved cheerfully. "Can't wait to see you again~!"

"...All right, let's go." Sora disengaged himself from Goofy's grip and led the trio through the portal, hesitating only slightly before walking inside. Donald and Goofy followed close behind, and the portal closed almost immediately after.

Once Sora was gone, Remilia muttered, "That hag is up to something... he wasn't evil, just a giant meanie."

"Well, you seem fine, at any rate," Sakuya said, brushing the vampire's fringe aside for a closer look at her slightly bruised forehead. Turning her attention back to Yuuka, the maid continued, "So, have you finished 'observing'?"

"Pretty much." Yuuka nodded, turning her back to the vampire and maid. She walked back to the corridor that Wriggle and Mystia were located at, and crouched next to the fire fly youkai.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to see you sometime tomorrow, okay?" Yuuka asked sweetly. "I'll even have Elly make your lunch this time."

Wriggle hesitated, glancing at Mystia for an answer. The night-sparrow only shrugged, and Wriggle finally nodded.

"Great!" Yuuka pulled her into a hug, then decided to add Mystia in for the heck of it. "Well, see you tomorrow!"

With that, Yuuka rose to her feet and marched cheerfully towards the front door, letting herself out. Remilia and Sakuya watched with blank expressions for a few moments, wondering why exactly Yuuka felt the need to watch the battle. It couldn't be recon workto find out his battle style. Yuuka didn't do that, nor did she even need to do that anyway.

"... Well," Remilia cleared her throat and glared at the younger youkai. "What're you two still here for? Go away!"

"What about our protection?" Wriggle demanded, her timidness receding.

"It's kinda nulled by circumstances now, don't you think?" Remilia snapped. "Now leave before I get China to throw you out!"

With that, Remilia took flight and rushed through a door on the second floor, leaving Sakuya with the girls.

Sighing, Sakuya shook her head and smiled pleasantly at Mystia and Wriggle. "Don't mind her, feel free to stay until sundown. Although, it seems rather unecessary now."

* * *

><p>The Yakumo's watched the fight quietly to its conclusion. Yukari was grinning eerily, Chen looked entranced, and Ran wore an impassive expression. The kitsune had to admit, she was surprised at the boy's capability. For the most part, he could handle himself well in that battle, but if he was struggling against Remilia...<p>

"Honestly, I would have enjoyed a longer fight, but I guess Remilia served her purpose..." Yukari muttered, apparently satisfied with his battle. Leaning forward, Yukari waved her hand over the ball. As if it were some sort of camera, the view panned to reveal Yuuka was present as well, and was talking to Sora.

Eyes widening in surprise, Ran glanced at Yukari, who looked perfectly at ease. "Yukari, why is she there?"

"Well, I believe she mentioned 'observing'," Yukari said with an amused grin. "Can't blame her, that Keyblade Master sure is an interesting piece of work. Even though he's nowhere near her type, Yuuka's probably inexplicably attracted to someone like him."

Ran and Chen looked horribly confused by that statement, but Yukari didn't elaborate further, merely waving her hand again to open one of her gaps to Sora's next destination.

"Now then, let's see if Boss Two is all set!" The crystal ball changed scenes, the mansion fading to the grounds outside of the Moriya Shrine.

On her own was a girl with long, pale green hair, dressed in the traditional priestess robes, kneeling as if in meditation. A gohei was laid to rest upon her lap, and she faced the entrance to the shrine, with Kanako and Suwako nowhere in sight.

Smiling in content, Yukari once again changed the picture, this time to the Forest of Magic. More specifically, outside Alice Margatroid's house, from which Marisa Kirisame was leaving.

"Just plant the guest party member..." Yukari muttered, and Ran gave her a questioning glance, whle Chen simply watched the scenes playing before her. A gap formed under the unsuspecting witch's feet, and she fell through with a surprised yelp.

"And now, the story continues." Yukari said, as if in narration, switching the scene once more.

_His next opponent will be Sanae Moriya... _Ran thought as she watched the crystal ball. _She will be a vastly different opponent, and perhaps even tougher. How will the boy handle that fight, I wonder?_

* * *

><p>"Wow!"<p>

The portal had spat the trio from the air. Landing uneasily on his feet, Sora glanced at their surroundings, noting that they seemed to be on some sort of mountain trail.

Goofy landed next to Sora, while Donald bounced off his rear to his feet with a pained cry.

"Where are we now?" Sora wondered aloud.

"Looks like we're up on the mountains," Goofy observed, while Donald grumbled and rubbed at his tail end. "Huh, is there that trial is supposed to t-"

"Yukari, you hag!" A familiar voice tore through the air, startling the group. "I know it was you! Think you're funny, huh? Well, I'm blowing your stupid house down for that, ze!"

"Is that... Marisa?" Sora asked, looking up and down the mountain trail to find the source of the voice.

"Who's Yukari?" Goofy wondered aloud.

"Cure!" Donald waved his staff, relieving the pain from his rump, before looking up and down the trail as well, searching for Marisa.

Said search didn't last too long, as Marisa stormed towards their location, glaring at the sky with broom gripped fiercely in her hand.

"And when I do, I'm gonna spit on the ashes and blow _those_ up as well, and then I'll-" Marisa came to a halt upon seeing Sora, Donald an Goofy staring at her in bemusement. "Oh hey, it's Sonya, Danny and Goofy."

Blinking in surprise, Sora said, "Uh, that's _Sora_ and _Donald_. You got Goofy right, though." Goofy looked pleased at being the only one whose name was remembered, Donald was slightly irritated and Marisa merely shrugged.

"Whatever. Hey, you guys seen an ugly, hateful person around here?"

"No... what happened?" Sora asked.

Scowling, Marisa told them that she had fallen through one of Yukari's gaps when she was returning home. Clearly, it was some stupid prank pulled by this 'Yukari' person, when she should be taking a more active part in cleaning up Gensokyo, and the group were spared of further complaints of the woman when Goofy brought more company to their attention.

Bobbing their way towards the group from higher up the mountain trail were odd, ghost-like creatures. Somewhat spherical in shape, each of the creatures seemed to have the same expression, a black-eyed face with a tongue poking out of their grinning mouths. Sora wasn't sure what kind of species they were, but the bullets that they began to spit out certainly made their intentions obvious.

"Is someone sending these things after us?" Sora asked casually, swatting the bullets aside. After evading the vampire's assault, one or two of these bullets at a time felt like an insulting downgrade in challenge.

"What, them? Just ghosties, ze. Barely qualify as mystical." Marisa shrugged, barely moving to avoid a bullet. "Oh, why are you guys here, anyway? Come to think of it, how'd you get here so fast, ze?"

"Well..." Sora pointed his Keyblade at one of the ghosties, firing a shard of ice at it. "We ended up fighting the vampire, who wasn't as dark and gothic as I thought-"

Marisa snorted at the idea of a gothic Remilia.

"- And when we won, some weird woman told us to go through a creepy portal, and here we are." Another swat of a bullet, and Donald launched a trail of Thunder spells in the ghosties' direction.

"Huh, wonder why Yukari'd bring us all here, then," Marisa muttered. "Let's see... maybe she wants you to go to the Moriya Shrine?"

Sora only shrugged, and fired another blizzard spell at the last ghosty. "Maybe... that woman did mention another trial, so I guess we have to fight whoever's there."

Marisa chuckled at that. "So, you're saying Yukari wants you to fight Sanae and her goddess' parent-types? Wow, that seems cruel, ze!"

Sora, Donald and Goofy exchanged surprised glances, each of them wondering what the more important question to ask first was: Yukari's identity or what exactly Marisa meant by 'goddess'.

Eventually, Sora asked Marisa about the goddesses, and Marisa smirked at that, walking further up the path.

"Come on, let's walk and talk," Marisa suggested, leading the three up the path. "Now, when I say 'goddess', I mean a deity, a being beyond mortals..."

As Marisa explained to the shocked group that there were such beings in this world as well, the Moriya Gods themselves watched from afar, a cloaking spell masking their presence.

"_He's_ the threat?" Kanako asked incredulously. "Okay, now I definitely know Yukari's messing with us."

"The surprise has me reeling!" Suwako cried, rolling backwards through the air, her straw hat-with-large-bulging-frog eyes not even so much as budging.

"And I doubt even Kirisame would side with that boy if he were the souce of this Incident..." Kanako muttered, eyes narrowed. "... Just what is the purpose of having him fight Sanae?"

"Maybe we'll find out soon enough?" Suwako suggested. "Come on, let's keep a close watch on 'em!"

With that, both goddesses took flight after the group, both of them trying to figure what Yukari's game was _this_ time.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter four, brought to you with the assistance of GIG, who was kind enough to help me rework a disappointingly bland chapter into something far more enjoyable to read. Thanks for that!<strong>

**Well, now that this boss fight's over, there shouldn't be any more distracting Wriggle scenes. Well, until another character relevant to the current scene pops up, anyway... Hey, at least it gives me a chance to try out characters I've not yet written for, which is mainly the reason I have Sanae and Mokou in the line up. And those two along come with their own sets of related characters... but I'm just rambling senselessly now.**

**I hope the Remilia fight was climactic enough (lord knows it had a much weaker ending in the name of a simple first boss fight). If it wasn't... well, let's hope I do better. There'a at least four more major opponents to take down, after all.**


	5. Chapter 5  Battle of Moriya, Part 1

At the Moriya Shrine, the green haired shrine maiden sat idly, appearing calm, composed and in control. In actuality, she was incredibly anxious and excited at the same time to meet this scourge of Gensokyo. What was this person like? Was he a dastardly villain? A conniving snake? A mysterious, enigmatic figure draped in a black, face-concealing cloak? It was almost physically painful to just sit and wait. But wait she should. After all, the Moriya Shrine was 'her' field, her terrain. And no matter how much Sanae wanted to see this villain for herself, leaving the shrine unattended when a threat was looming so close was pretty stupid, regardless of whether or not two battle-capable gods lived there.

_Come ooooon, hurry uuuuuup..._ Sanae practically begged. She wanted to fight this guy so badly!

* * *

><p>"Okay, let me get this straight..." Sora said, panting slightly from the uphill journey through a mountain trail. "This shrine that we're going to has not one, but <em>two<em> goddesses in it?"

"Affirmative." Marisa smiled, floating lazily on her broom to avoid having to trek all the way up.

"And there's a shrine maiden there that gets her power from both of them..." Sora muttered thoughtfully. "huh, I get the feeling that I'm just a little bit outmatched here."

Marisa laughed at that, "Just a little? Come on, can a giant key really compare to miracles, ze? Heck, it's a miracle you survived that trip to Vampy's house!"

"Hey! Sora had no problems with that fight!" Donald argued defensively, and Marisa grinned.

"Oh? you sure she gave it her all? Fangs isn't the type to just allow a win like that. Something's up, ze."

"You mean those trials that that woman mentioned?" Goofy asked thoughtfully. "Who is she anyway? The person with green hair and that pink umbrella?"

Marisa gave Goofy a look of surprise, stopping her glide. "Wait, you mean Yuuka Kazami? What was she doing there?"

Sora shrugged, clueless to what was going on in this place. "She just said we should come here, and I guess we're fighting that shrine maiden girl."

Marisa looked suspicious as she resumed her ascent up the moutain trail, with the trio following closely behind and below.

_Yuuka Kazami's telling 'em what to do, ze? What's she up to? _The black-white witch pondered.

Having crossed spells with Yuuka before, Marisa knew that 'mysterious' didn't even begin to cover that youkai. Always popping up out of nowhere, acting all innocent or cryptic... she never bothered with these affairs unless she got something out of it. What was her goal?

"Marisa!" Sora called to the blonde witch, who glanced down at him. "Could you tell us about that Yukari person too? Does she have anything to do with trials?"

Marisa simply shrugged. "No idea, ze. Most likely, but if she does, that darn hag really should've cleared out this Heartland mess ages ago..."

Sora folded his arms as he thought about that. This Yukari person... she was probably very important to this world, like their empress or... possibly some higher-levelled goddess deity. But if she was supposed to have somehow gotten rid of the Heartless...

"Hey, do you guys think that Yukari's being controlled by the Heartless?" Sora asked Donald and Goofy in a whisper.

"Maybe... but would she be easy to control?" Donald replied quietly.

"But if she is, we have to help her!" Goofy added.

Sora nodded in agreement. Of course, saving Yukari was of vital importance for a number of reasons, assuming she even needed saving. However, they would have to first find out where she lived... With any luck, these trials would provide that answer.

* * *

><p>Yukari struggled to hold back her laughter at Sora's suspicions, shaking violently and covering her hand with her mouth. Chen gave Ran a confused look, who only rolled her eyes and shook her head. Yukari was just overreacting again.<p>

"...O-okay, okay... I - I think it's under co-pffffhah!" Yukari giggled some more, clutching her sides. this continued for several minutes, with Yukari fighting an uphill battle to regain her breathe. After what must have been an enternity, Yukari had the composure to speak properly.

"Oh, that was a good one!" Yukari laughed, slumping in her chair. "Chen, be a dear and go get me a drink, will you? Ah, what a laugh..."

"Are you feeling okay?" Ran asked as Chen sped from the room to obtain said drink.

"I'm perfectly fine... it's just... saving _me _from those Heartless? Oh, what an imagination that boy has..."

Ran's lips curled slightly into an amused smile. "To be fair, he has no idea who you are, Yukari."

"Yeah... I'll bet he's imagining a cute, innocent little girl," Yukari sighed. "Someone with flowing, vibrant golden hair and the most adorable little face..."

"Yes, perhaps," Ran replied, glancing at the boy's progress on the crystal ball. "Regardless, he'll 'save' you no matter what. I guess he suffers from that 'Chronic Hero Syndrome' you told me about?"

Yukari smiled knowingly, glancing at Sora with shining eyes. "Ran, I fear that this boy has the most serious case of CHS ever."

"Here ya go~!" Chen had returned, carrying a bottle of sake for Yukari. With a grateful smile, Yukari took a swig and set it on the floor by her feet.

Ran glanced at the crystal ball, wondering. Just what did Yukari mean exactly? Well, 'this boy saves people' was obvious enough, but Yukari sounded like there was something else to her words, another situation she was alluding to... just how important was this boy in the grand scheme of things?

* * *

><p>Humming merrily to herself, Yuuka strolled cheerfully through her garden of sunflowers, each of the large, bright plants seemingly following her path. As the dials of the flowers shifted to 'stare' after her, Yuuka continued to hum, umbrella shouldered and face wearing a large grin as she neared her home, where an... admittably annoying guest sat in wait.<p>

Yuuka's gate keeper, a fairly young looking girl named Elly, impatiently tended to the services of a tall, incredibly bulky individual, who seemed to be complaining about something very loudly and obnoxiously. Yuuka had to sigh at the man's rudeness. He was lucky to even have an audience with herself, after all.

Stepping onto her patio, Yuuka smiled pleasantly at the large man. "Sorry to keep you waiting... Pete, was it?"

Pete, the bulky guy in blue overalls and black fur, turned his head towards her, a cup of tea clutched in his massive hand. He wore an impatient scowl as he spoke to Yuuka.

"'Bout time ya got here! This little brat o' yours won't shut up about your 'exploits'! Pete complained, and Elly huffed in defiance.

"Oh yeah? Sorry, but your stories about how** dark **and _evil _and _**awesome **_your pwecious widdle Maweficent is were boring me to death! Figured I'd show you how to tell an _interesting_ story!"

"Come on now, no need to fight." Yuuka chuckled, taking a seat at the table she kept on her patio. "I apologise for my tardiness. Now, what did you want to see me about?"

After a moment's grumbling, Pete cleared his throat and answered, "Maleficent think's that you're not holding up your end of the deal."

"Oh?" Yuuka raised her eyebrows, steepling her fingers under her chin.

"Yeah, the Heartless aren't nearly widespread enough," Pete continued, leaning his hands on the table as he peered at Yuuka. "And you're not doing a whole lot to keep that meddling boy and all your witch friends at bay!"

Yuuka nodded slowly, leaning back in her chair. "Yes, I see the problem... things aren't going as smoothly as Malecefint says."

_"Maleficent!"_ Pete corrected firmly and aggravatingly.

"Male Serpent," Yuuka 'corrected', which elicited angry spluttering from Pete and open chuckling from Elly. "Anyway, I assure you, I'm doing all I can to make things work out, but you should know by now: Heroes will invariably mess things up for us."

Pete folded his arms, glaring at Yuuka. "Oh yeah? Well, find a way to fix that problem!"

"Who do you think you are, ordering my master around!" Elly challanged angrily. Yuuka placed a hand on the girl's forearm, smiling reassurningly at her. When Elly calmed down, Yuuka smiled at Pete cheerfully.

"Don't you worry about a thing, big man! I've managed to manipulate the big cheese 'round here to trick others into finishing that boy off," Yuuka's smile became a dark grin. "And even if those five aren't enough, there's like, a hundred more of us to go. He won't survive long."

"Hmph, I'll hold your word to it," Pete stated. "If you fail, Maleficent's gonna get you!"

"I'll look forward to it," Yuuka replied pleasantly. With a dismissal grunt, Pete opened a dark portal behind him. Just as he was about to step through it, Yuuka called out, "Oh, one more thing!"

As Pete turned impatiently to face Yuuka, he found himself roughly grabbed by the chest and shoved towards the wall of Yuuka's mansion. Gasping in surprise, Yuuka pressed her face close to Pete's. She may be a few inches smaller, and several hundred pounds lighter, but Yuuka still seemed far more physically intimidating, although Elly may have been biased in her judgement.

"If you would be so kind as to never, _ever _insult Elly again?" Yuuka asked, still using a friendly tone sweet enough to possibly produce sugar. "You see, it's not very nice, and I don't like you much anyway. Please don't give me a reason to mail you back to Mary Pheasant in matchboxes, hmm?"

Pete, staring at Yuuka with a slack jawed expression, merely gulped and nodded. Immediately, the tension in the air disappeared, Yuuka had relinquished her grip, and had backed off, still smiling.

"Well, bye-bye!" Yuuka waved. "Tell Maleficent I said 'hi'!" Her crimson eyes seemed to sharpen. "Seriously, extend my greetings."

"O-okay!" Pete agreed nervously, and made a mad dash for the portal, practically leaping through it before it closed.

Elly had a large, goofy smile on her face when she faced Yuuka. "Master, why are you so awesome?"

"I dunno, guess it's just an innate talent," Yuuka shrugged, and glanced at the garden, where something seemed to catch her attention. "Oooh!"

Yuuka leaped from the patio, grabbing something from the ground. Curious, Elly followed her master, who whirled around with the thing in her hands. "Look, look! Isn't this the cutest Heartless you've ever seen?"

In her hands, Yuuka held a Shadow Heartless. Instead of madly thrashing and clawing about in an attempt to break free and reap hearts, it seemed to be quivering. Anyone who knew even the slightest, tiniest, insignifcant thing about the creatures could tell you that this should have been impossible. Heartless felt no fear, but here it was, shaking with fright.

"It's... nice, I guess?" Elly said, not quite seeing the appeal to a pool of blackness with headlights for eyes. "But I'd recommend against making it your pet, master. They steal hearts and stuff, remember?"

"Hm... yes, that is a bother..." Yuuka muttered, somewhat sadly as she glanced at somehow frightened Heartless. A shrug and a smile later, Yuuka only said, "Oh well!" and crushed the creature in her hands, wisps of dark smoke drifting to the sky.

* * *

><p>"Come on guys, we're almost there!" Marisa called to the lagging trio. Sora, Donald and Goofy, despite having plenty of opportunities to build up their stamina, were still unused to hiking up a mountain trail. Sure, there was that one in the Land of Dragons, but it wasn't nearly as big as this one! If whoever made that portal wanted Sora to fight someone, why drop him so far away from the destination?<p>

They seemed to be arriving somewhere though. The path was beginning to even out, making the walk much more bearable for the tired group. With renewed vigour, they raced to the tip of the hill, and their faces fell when they saw yet another trail that crawled upwards roughly fifty yards away.

"_More_ climbing?" Donald sighed in exasperation.

"Not really," Marisa jerked her thumb over shoulder, pointing to a different pathway that didn't seem to ascend. "Moriya Shrine's that way, ze."

"Thank goodness..." Sora sighed, staggering forward. Seeing how tired they were, Marisa shook her head in disapproval, and began rooting through the pockets of her apron.

"Are you guys sure that you're heroes?" Marisa asked with a grin, producing three small, green tinted bottles.

Sora nodded, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Hey, I just climbed a mountain after fighting a really strong vampire! Anyone would be a little tired after that!"

"It doesn't sound much harder than fighting a thousand Heartless all by yourself..." Goofy commented doubtfully, then hurriedly caught the vial thrown to him by Marisa. Sora and Donald did the same. "Wow, a Potion! Gawrsh, you shouldn't have!"

Marisa only shrugged, "Think nothing of it, ze! They're easy to make, and I can't just allow you guys to get your butt's handed to ya in that sorry state! Besides, you can repay me later!"

Sora chugged the potion down, feeling his energy returning. It wasn't perfect, but it helped. Wiping his mouth, Sora replied, "Well, I've got some munny on me, I can pay you right now."

"How muh ya got?"

Sora rooted through his many pockets, and took out several, blue and yellow like gems. Frowning, Marisa picked one up an peered at it. "...The heck is this?"

"Munny?" Sora replied.

"You sure this is money? It looks more like imitation plastic or something, ze." Marisa said doubtfully, and chucked it back to Sora. "Sure as heck isn't like any money we use here."

_This world keeps getting wierder and wierder... _Sora thought as he pocketed his apparently worthless cash.

"well, whatever, you can pay me some other way." Marisa shrugged again, and twirled her broom, now facing the path they were traversing. Once again, the group set off.

After five more minutes of travel, Sora noted, "You know, I just realised... all we've found are those 'ghosty' guys. No Heartless here at all."

"Must be the Tengu," Marisa replied, nodding her head towards the peak of the mountain. "They're pretty territorial about this mountain, ze. I doubt they'd late any Heartlols stay for long."

"_Heartless_." Sora corrected, and wondered exactly what a 'tengu' was, having never heard of them before. As if to rectify this problem, something akin to speeding bullet crashed directly in front of them, kicking up dust. Coughing, the trio drew their weapons, while Marisa gripped the brim of her hat and made sure her broom didn't send her careening down the mountain. Frowning in annoyance, the witch grunted, "Oh great, it's _her_."

A vague outline of someone could be made from the dust, something carried in each hand. The figure immediately rushed past Marisa, stopping in front of a perplexed Sora, Donald and Goofy.

"Aya Shameimaru of the Bunbunmaru newspaper!" The girl announced quickly, her face alight with excitement. The objects in her hands turned out to be nothing more than a note book and pen, and a camera dangled from her neck. "Here to interview the mysterious new characters bringing terror to Gensokyo!"

Sora blinked in surprise for a moment, then sighed and dismissed his Keyblade. "Uh, look, I don't know where you heard that from, but we're not terrorising anybody! That's the exact opposite of what we do!"

"Yeah! Who keeps spreading all these lies!" Donald demanded to know.

Nodding fervently, Aya scribbled in her notebook. The reporter was dark-haired, wearing a white blouse, black skirt, and a red tokin.

"Okay, you there!" Aya pointed the tip of her pen to Goofy. "Could you please identify your species? I can't seem to pinpoint it at all."

"Me? Well, I'm-" Goofy began, but was cut off by an irritated Marisa.

"Aya, we don't have time for you," The black-white witch grumbled irritably. "We're kinda in the middle of something."

After jotting down a quick note, Aya rounded on the witch, pen poised to write some more. "Marisa Kirisame! Normally Gensokyo's other main Incident Resolver! Do you have any reason for siding with the alleged bad guy?"

Marisa sighed heavily, producing her hakkero and pointing it at the Tengu. "One warning is all you're getting, ze. Move, or I'm blasting ya back to the top."

Immediately, Aya jotted another note down, and rounded on Donald, asking, "And you, duck guy! Can you elaborate on why you're attacking Gensokyo?"

"We. Aren't. _Attacking_!" Donald growled in exasperation. After writing somethng else down, Aya beamed at the group, pocketing her pen and notes.

"Thanks guys! See ya soon!"

Quickly snapping several pictures, the girl launched herself into the air, moving at what Sora could only describe as sonic speed.

"...Okay?" Sora said, wondering just what that was all about.

"That darn Tengu..." Marisa sighed. "Can't wait to see the headlines for that...well, come on."

Marisa began to lead the group again, and Sora glanced upwards, in the direction that that Aya person went. "Hey Marisa, you sure you should be helping us? It looks like people are just going to assume you're a bad guy."

"Eh, don't worry about that, ze," Marisa laughed. "I've already beaten anybody worth mentioning 'round here! Besides, it should be interestin'!"

It wasn't long before they reached the Moriya Shrine. The area was quite spacious, and the shrine was located roughly twenty feet away. In the middle of the shrine's courtyard was a green-haired girl, kneeling in wait. Seeing that they had arrived, she practically bounced to her feet, an expectant grin on her face.

"Finally! What took you long en-" The shrine maiden frowned upon seeing Sora. "... Huh, you don't look as evil as I thought."

"Yeah, there's a reason for that..." Sora replied as he cautiously drew his keyblade, thinking that a girl who had a snake headband prominently showing in her hair must come across as the more 'evil' one. "Look, do we really have to fight? Believe me, I'd rather skip to the part where you realise that I'm not the bad guy and this is a big mistake."

The girl folded her arms and tilted her head, giving Sora an analytical gaze. "Hm... well, you _sound _sincere, and no self-respecting villain uses a giant key as a weapon, do they?"

_Is this the only world were the keyblade's an issue?_ Sora wondered.

"And since Yukari's being incredibly vague and mysterious about this whole thing..." Sanae continued, and nodded her head in understanding. "I've got it! This is a situation in which the heroes have to fight other heroes before realising that it's a big mistake set up by the villain!"

"Yes, that's it!" Sora, Donald and Goofy replied excitedly. It was great to find someone who believed them.

Sanae nodded her head again, fully comprehending the situation. "Well, it's clear that you aren't evil... but still, we're doing this!"

"Wait, what?" Sora replied in surprise.

"I've been hyping myself up all day for an epic battle!" Sanae said accusingly. "And I'm not letting all that build up go to waste! Now, give me a satisfactory fight, or I'm not letting you leave this place in one piece!"

"But... I thought..." Sora simply sighed and slumped his shoulders. Was everyone in this world some sort of battle junky? Why was it so hard to accept that Sora wasn't trying to fight everyone who crossed him?

Marisa grinned in excitement at the upcoming fight. "This should be good, ze. I'll bet Sanae plasters the ground with ya!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence..." Sora muttered, and stepped forward, readying his keyblade. To Sanae, Sora asked, "Okay, so a one on one?"

Sanae shook her head, readying her gohei. "All of you at once, or it's a cheap victory for me!" Sanae glanced at Marisa. "You helping them too, Marisa?"

The witch only shrugged. "I dunno, I mean... it's no fun kicking your butt with another three guys. Too easy, you know? Nah, I'll sit this one out."

"Suit yourself," Sanae faced Sora, Donald and Goofy with an excited grin. "Well then, let's duel!"

"Sanae's fighting the three of them?" Ran asked, intrigued. "That seems overconfident."

"Not really," Yukari replied with excitement. "That boy is strong, but he's still not acclimated fully to our way of things. He'll need all the help he can get to withstand the danmaku of someone who won't waste ehr time with theatrics and cry over every little hit."

"So, this will be an actual battle?"

Yukari nodded, watching expectantly. Remilia was too childish to take full advantage of her superior fire power, and left ehrself wide open for a swift defeat. However, against Sanae, victory would be much more difficult, even if she withheld her full power. Simple, brute force wouldn't be enough to win this fight, he would need to take advantage of the skills he's accumulated to have any chance.

"Also, why exactly did you drag Kirisame into this? She doesn't seem to be in the mood to fight." Ran asked.

"Arbitrary headcount limit." Yukari muttered quietly, and Ran leaned forward.

"Excuse me?"

"She's a fail safe in case someone goes too far." Yukari said, as if repeating her last statement.

"Go Sanae~!" Suwako called from high above, clapping her hands in enjoyment. Thanks to Kankao's enchantments, they wouldn't be seen or heard by anyone below, especially since they'd be too busy focusing on the battle to sense any other kind of magic. As the frog goddess watched in excitement, the taller of the goddesses watch with a bit more skepticism. From what she had seen of the boy as he travelled up the mountain, he was nothing. No danmaku or flight ability at all. Why was Yukari going through all this trouble?

Kanako glanced at the silver-bladed key in the boy's hands, wondering if that had anything to do with it. She could sense a vastly unfamiliar magic energy emanating from it, after all. Did it grant the wielder extraordinary strength? If so, why not just give it to someone who was competent? Surely it was wasted on this boy...

"Boy, she really gets into her fights, doesn't she?" Suwako commented as Sanae began the match. "When will she start shouting random boasts?"

"As long as it doesn't cost her the fight," Kanako sighed. "I'd rather not have her lose because she decided to overlook some technique in favour of bragging about her magic..."

Sanae had wasted no time in starting the battle. As soon as she had finished declaring the duel, she had swung her gohei, sending an arc of bullets in their direction. Donald was forced to duck, while Sora and Goofy parried with their respective weapons. Immediately after, Sanae raised her gohei, grinning confidently.

"Let's see you overcome my miracles!" The green-haired shrine maiden declared. "Gray Thuamaturgy!"

Lines of red-coloured danmaku formed around Sanae, quickly creating the shape of a five-pointed star, which was then overlayed by a larger, blue-bulleted star. The trio watched, wide eyed as the shrine maiden quickly whipped her gohei downward, and the bullets began to fly for them.

The blue bullets were the first to arrive. Sora, Donald and Goofy immediately began to evade and parry what they could. Fortunately, most of the bullets seemed to be missing by a wide margin, but an uncomfortably close graze to Sora's side conviced him that getting compliant here wasn't a good idea.

The red bullets followed soon after. They seemed to be faster moving than the blue version, but their smaller size proved to be benefical, since it was also a tad easier to dodge.

_I think my magic's recharged by now... _Sora thought as he barely deflected another red bullet. _If I get a clear shot, maybe I can-_

"Thunder!" Donald, who seemed lucky enough to find an opening first, aimed a lightning spell at Sanae, who seemed to be in the middle of casting another spell, if her pose was any indication. However, the blue-white shrine maiden seemed to know the attack was coming, as she immediately leaped back, barely avoiding the lightning strike.

"I could sense that coming a mile away!" Sanae laughed, and returned to casting another spell, a hand raised in front of her as she chanted quietly.

The bullets had finally dispersed, leaving the group with a clearer shot. Nodding to Goofy, Sora and he charged towards Sanae while Donald attempted another Thunder spell.

Her grin growing wider, Sanae watched as they attempted to rush her. "Too late!"

Again, Sanae side stepped the Thunder spell, and pointed her gohei at Sora and Goofy. "Daytime Guest Stars!"

Two impossibly bright lights flashed between Sanae and her targets, who had to stop and shield their eyes.

"Shining stars, release your light!" Sanae ordered, waving her gohei dramatically, and Sora squinted in her general direction, seeing what appeared to be a beam of light flying for him.

"Goofy, move!" Sora yelled, rolling to the side. The beam flashed past Sora, but something nicked his arm. Whatever it was, it wasn't that beam, but Sora didn't have time to check. Yet another beam of light was heading directly for him, and the extreme brightness made it difficult to see.

"How's that for a miracle?" Sanae asked boastfully, watching as Sora and Goofy desperately avoided her light and shrapnel onslaught, while Donald tried to think of a way to cast a spell without it being somehow sensed and dodged. "Star light in the day time! Dazzled by my power?"

_She's pretty tough..._ Sora thought, avoiding another blast of light and shrapnel. _She can sense Donald's magic before it hits, and these lights make it hard to reach her without being blinded..._

Fortunately, the lights began to fade and shimmer away, making Sanae significantly more visible to the group.

_Then again, these spells don't last forever, do they? _Sora realised, now grinning slightly. _That's it! If we endure these spells, we can strike before she sets up another one!_

Sighing with relief, Goofy faced Sanae, shield raised as Donald rushed to his side. Sora remained where he was, watching the shrine maiden's next move.

"I gotta say, that wasn't exactly a great showing," Sanae commented. "I don't know why anyone's afraid of you!"

"Neither do we," Sora replied, "But don't write us off just yet! We've still got plenty of tricks up our sleeves, right guys!"

"Yeah!" Donald and Goofy yelled back, and Sanae chuckled.

"Well, they'd better be good tricks, because if you can't beat me..." Sanae gripped her gohei tightly, grinning widely. "You'll never beat the others!"

_It's not like I really want to..._ Sora thought, although he grinned back at the shrine maiden. "Bring it on!"

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks again for checking this over, GIG. Good to know it seemed relatively problem free this time around.<strong>

**As much as I don't like having the second battle start so quickly... there really wasn't a whole lot to do to put it off for at least another chapter. Granted, this could be because I know so little about anyone who lives on that mountain, and there's only so many characters I'm willing to try for the first time in any given story. At least it reduces the amount on meaningless filler you could have suffered through!**

**Well, I hope this chapter is satisfactory enough. The next chapter might take a while, depending on whether or not I try and concentrate on making the latest Tsugi Monogatari not suck, plus I'll be going on holiday next week...**


	6. Chapter 6 Battle of Moriya, Part 2

Sanae had to admit, she was impressed with the team work now being employed to defeat her.

Sora, in an effort to distract Sanae from throwing any more bullets around, had taken up a rather aggressive method. Sanae found herself constantly having to evade strikes of his Keyblade, and any distance she put between them was almost instantly closed by him. Finally, she had to resort to simply flying out of his reach, but there was still the problem of that magic throwing duck...

Donald cast a Thunder spell, which Sanae sensed and dodged. However, once she started casting again, she would have to dodge another spell. While Sanae could simply continue to cast while dodging the easily-telegraphed spells, that was quickly foiled by Sora yet again.

Goofy, with his shield arm raised, had Sora perched atop it. With a grunt and mighty display of strength, he managed to fling Sora into the air, where the Keyblade Master used his augmented jumping abilities for some extra height.

Surprised, Sanae ducked another wing of the keyblade and tried to whack Sora back to earth with her gohei. Unfortunately, Sora had already moved his weapon to a defensive position, allowing him to block the strike as he fell.

Grinning triumphantly, Sanae pointed her gohei at the falling young man. "Ha! I guess you realise that you can't beat me without being able to f-"

"Magnet!" Sora yelled, pointing his keyblade at the green-haired shrine maiden, who looked confused.

"What about a magn-agh!"

A strong current of magic energy pushed Sanae towards Sora, who landed with no difficulty. Sanae, however, was falling towards the ground, with no way to slow her descent.

_Oh no oh no oh no! _Sanae was thinking, and clecnched her eyes shut for a rough landing. That never came.

Instead, she suddenly stopped and began rotating around a pale orange orb in the air. Confused, she glanced at Sora, who grinned back at her.

"What was that about not winning?" Sora asked confidently.

"... Very clever," Sanae complimented, holding the hem of her skirt up with one hand as she rotated upside down. "But there's one problem with your little spell."

"Oh?"

Sanae's grin returned. "It doesn't stop me from doing _this_!" She yelled, and a large gale suddenly blew around the area, almost sweeping the trio of their feet. Sora stabbed his Keyblade into the ground and held on, holding his hand out for Goofy to grab onto while he held Donald.

Sanae had rightened herself, and was rising into the air, at the centre of the tornado she had made. Leering at Sora, Donald and Goofy, the shrine maiden declared, "Foolish boy! You would have won, had you simply made a decisive strike! Instead, I shall show you a _true_ miracle!"

Out of apparently nowhere, random objects were whipped into the tornado. Sora, not noticing that the shrine was somehow untouched, assumed the large pieces of wood and stone came from that.

"What'll we do now?" Donald yelled over the winds, barely clinging onto Goofy.

Sora watched with clenched eyes the objects that whirled around the tornado, a crazy plan formulating in his head.

"...Platforming." Sora simply said.

"What?" Goofy yelled. "What was that?"

Now grinning slightly, Sora nodded upwards, unable to point. "We'll use her own spell against her! Should be fun!"

Donald looked at the large slabs of stone and wood circling the air above them, then at Sora with an awed expression. "Are you crazy?"

"Aw come on, it can't be too hard!" Sora said with a small laugh. "Okay, on the count of three, we'll let the wind carry us, okay?"

"This sounds risky," Goofy said, "But I trust ya, Sora!"

"This had better work!" Donald grumbled as he prepared himself for what should be an impossible endeavour.

Offering an encouraging smile, Sora counted under his breathe, "Alrighty then... one... two... three!"

Sora let his Keyblade disappear in a flash of light, and the three were sent flying.

* * *

><p>"What." Ran stated in disbelief, watching the scene unfold.<p>

"I believe our plucky hero here decided to try and ride a tornado," Yukari explained with glee. "Quite frankly, that sounds incredibly awesome."

Ran shook her head, still unable to believe that the boy could be so stupid. He didn't know any magic that could let him alter the currents. He couldn't fly either, so how did he expect this idea of his to work?

Chen didn't seem to care about such trivial details though. She was engrossed in the action, and whooped excitedly. "Look, look! Spiky Hair's hopping around the floors!"

Ran took another look to see that Sora was, indeed, proverbially flipping off common sense, gravity, and a whole load of other things that dictated his demise.

"... Well, I suppose he's fitting in already," Ran mused.

"And this when he isn't even at full power!" Yukari added excitedly, than covered her mouth and giggled. "Ah, I've said too much!"

The kitsune gave her master a questioning look. Not at full power? What fraction was he operating at, then? As he was, he'd need extraordinary amounts of luck to last against ninety percent of Gensokyo's residents. Was Yukari hoping to awaken his full power? And if so, why?

* * *

><p>Marisa, who had the foresight to shoot straight for the shrine as soon as Sanae whipped up her tornado (Marisa also made a note of how sturdy the Moriya Shrine was compared to Hakurei's), watched from within as Sora and his friends were whisked into the sky. She almost felt sorry for the guys. Given how everybody in Gensokyo operated, he wasn't in any mortal danger, but he was in for a rough time now. Still, Marisa could see even from here, that Sanae was holding back. This tornado spell, and those platforms that came from somewhere... she was deliberately manipulating the objects, forming a rather crude path to her location. What was she playing at?<p>

_It's like she's trying to let them win or something... _Marisa wondered. _Wait, does this have something to do with those trials?_

* * *

><p>"That boy flung himself inside," Kanako stated with a raised eyebrow. "Gutsy, but not my first choice of manoeuver."<p>

"Well, his options are limited!" Suwako pointed out brightly. "What _can_ he do against the sheer awesomeness of Sanae's power?"

Kanako smirked as she glanced at her counterpart shrine god. "Are you sure Sanae's going for an all out victory here?"

Suwako gave Kanako a quizzical look, the eyes on her hat matching her expression. "Eh?"

"Look," Kanako pointed at the platforms, where Sora, Donald and Goofy had landed upon one. "Why would Sanae add those things when the wind itself would be enough?"

"Well, to show just how great her power is!" Suwako replied boastfully. "She takes after me, ya know! Phenomenal powers that you just _have_ to display!"

Kanako sighed and shook her head. "And you call yourself a god... watch and see, Suwako."

* * *

><p><em>Huh, he actually went for it? Awesome.<em> Sanae thought with mild respect. What were the odds of this boy being crazy enough to leap into a tornado? That only happened in anime and video games, right?

Still, jumping to your apparent death wasn't necessarily heroic or smart. He took the leap, but did he have the capabilities to actually reach her?

_Show me what a hero can do! _Sanae mentally challenged, imitating the voice of a ham-tastic villain from one of the Outside World's most notable RPG series.

* * *

><p>This had to be one of the craziest things Sora had done so far.<p>

Sora had done many things that normal people who find quite astonishing. Such as fighting Heartless several stories tall, escaping the belly of a ginormous space whale, taking on a whole army of Heartless by himself, and even defeating 'Xehanort's Heartless', previously thought to be Ansem the Wise.

And ever since Sora had woken up from his sleep within that mansion's basement, he was doing more and more reality-slapping stunts with each world visited.

The wind carried Sora, Donald and Goofy with ease, throwing them around in an endless cycle. The Keyblade wielding boy had to use his Magnet spell in order to keep them together.

Despite the chaotic ride, Sora was able to spot a concrete slab nearby. Its proximity should have been alarming, but when it suddenly lurched towards him, Sora simply positioned himself so that he would end up 'landing' on it.

Apparently, this was all Sora needed for leverage. With his friends floating and rotating above him, Sora ran forward, towards the end of the slab. Conveniently enough, another stepping stone made itself known, and the wind was blowing with him, rather than against. That should help...

_Yeah, I can make this work. _Sora told himself, and leaped. The wind carried Sora towards the extra stone. His heart nearly leapt from his throat when it looked like he'd overshot, but the young Keyblade bearer barely managed to land upon it.

"Sora! This isn't gonna work out!" Donald screamed frantically, trying to make himself heard over the bollowing gales.

Sora ignored the less than helpful observation, and instead scanned the tornado for another platform. He was crouched in an attempt to make sure he wasn't suddenly blown off the thing, although it was a miracle he hadn't gotten himself killed at this point.

Sanae, watching from above, grinned slightly.

_There! _Sora spotted a third slab, elevated slightly higher. It was going to be tricky, but if he caught the wind just right...

Sora jumped, Donald and Goofy rising higher with him. A quick glance at the flickering sphere of magnetic energy indicated that the spell needed a recasting. With any luck, he'd get this crazy scenario over with before he lost all his mana.

Before Sora could accomplish the renewal of his spell, a wooden block suddenly flew at him. Quickly, Sora slashed it aside, and managed to land on the concrete block, but the yells of his friends told Sora that his spell had begun to unravel.

"Magnet!" Sora hurriedly cast the spell again, and thankfully retrieved Donald and Goofy before they were lost to the turbulent winds.

"That was a close call!" Goofy yelled cheerfully, attempting to ease Sora's mind with a rather passive attitude.

"_Too_ close!" Donald screeched. "We're not gonna make it!"

Deciding that Goofy's words were far more effective at helping him concentrate, Sora ignored Donald's protestations of advancement and quickly scanned what route would be available to him.

Sora saw two other concrete blocks coincidentally blow parallel to each other nearby, roughly seven feet apart. If he managed to jump up those, he could then catch that other platform and finally reach the shrine maiden!

"Almost there!" Sora yelled confidently and leaped once again. The wind helped carry him towards the blocks, with Sora having to run across the vertical surface for a few paces before he could safely hop to the other block. 'Safe' being used rather loosely in this context.

Trying to maintain enough concentration to keep his Magnet spell up, as well as hop back and forth between two oddly parallel blocks and hope they didn't suddenly crush him was pretty hard, to say the least. He inched higher and higher up the towering blocks, wondering if maybe this was a particularly stupid idea, even for him. Donald's accusations certainly supported that idea.

Finally, however, Sora reached the top. Sighing with relief, he renewed the Magnet spell once again, feeling his mana beginning to empty. Not good...

With one last leap, Sora found himself sailing towards the last platform, which would put him in reach of Sanae.

The shrine maiden watched with wide eyes, as if she hadn't expected Sora to reach this far (and honestly, who did?). However, she also wore a large grin.

Still not moving from her spot, Sanae pointed the palm of her free hand outward, firing several bullets. Following the tornado's path of wind, they began to circle the upper portion of the tornado, as well as obscure Sora's path slightly with their erratic movements.

_Great..._ Sora thought with a small frown. He crouched low to try and avoid a stray bullet flying from behind and smacking his over the head. _Now I gotta wait for an opening..._

The platform lurched suddenly, as if turbulence finally realised that flying blocks don't remain static when someone stood upon them. Thankfully, it wasn't enough to topple him, but Sora realised he may not have another second to end this ordeal. He had to try and reach Sanae now!

"This is it, guys! Hang tight!" Sora yelled, jumping once more. Bullets flew from seemingly all directions, and probably smacked Donald and Goofy around a little as well, but there was no time to defend, no time to dodge, he had to end it now...

Sanae merely watched as Sora drew closer, using the wind to reach her. His Keyblade was raised over his shoulder, as if ready to strike. To defend herself, Sanae raised her gohei to block.

The hit never came. Instead, Sora suddenly reached out, grabbing the girl's gohei, pulling her down with him as they began to fall.

Surprised, Sanae's concentration faltered and the tornado began to die down. Its currents were still enough to keep the group aloft, but it was quickly disappearing, and Sanae was too busy trying to wrest her gohei from Sora's grasp to focus on maintaining her spell.

"Let go of it!" Sanae yelled. "No one else is allowed to touch it!"

Sora, too busy being on the lookout for stray concrete or wood, didn't respond, but held on for dear life. Their descent meant that the Tornado was fast losing power. Now he just had to figure out a safe landing...

Several loud crashes indicated that the concrete was now falling to the ground at regular intervals, and that one resounding crash was particularly worrying, but everyone was still occupied with their own landing.

"The spell's fading fast, Sora!" Goofy warned.

"Get off me so I can fix this!" Sanae demanded. "I'm not gonna drop you, so let go!"

"I think I've got it!" Sora announced triumphantly, apparently unaware that Sanae was speaking. Raising his Keyblade above, Sora once again called, "Magnet!"

And now, all four of them were practically plastered back-to-back by the sphere of magnetic energy, slowly descending to the ground as the tornado finally died down, leaving no damage strangely enough. The blocks had more than made up for that.

"... Look, I can tell you're a good guy and all," Sanae said stiffly. "... But when I say 'let go of my things so I can save us all', that does _not_ mean, 'Herp derp let's glue us all together!'"

"Ehehe... Sorry..." Sora chuckled. "I... got a little carried away."

"_Really?_"Sanae and Donald gasped in mock surprise.

"Ahyuck! That was actually kind of fun!" Goofy laughed.

Donald rolled his eyes, glad that the nightmare was over at last. however, the dying spell promptly dropped Donald to the floor, where he yelped in surprise and pain, which only grew louder when Goofy landed on top of him. Both then preceded to grunt in choked pain when Sora fell upon them.

Fortunately, Sanae could fly, so there were no more additions to the pile up.

Landing quite gracefully, Sanae brushed her garments off slightly, and crossed her arms as she studied the group slowly getting to their feet.

_Well, they're gutsy at least... the boy's surprisingly competent, but annoyingly stupid_. Sanae thought. _He's got skill, so I guess it's no surprise his previous opponent was beaten..._

Sora wearily pointed his Keyblade at Sanae, now looking slightly worn out. "Hey, are we done yet? Because that was a bit much, don't you think?"

Before Sanae could answer, a slow clap was heard from behind. Sora glanced upwards to see Marisa on her broom, grinning widely as she finished her applause.

"Great work there," Marisa commented. "Losing on purpose, what an awesome strategy!"

"...On purpose?" Sora repeated, and looked at Sanae. "Come to think of it, that wasn't exactly a normal tornado if I could hop around the thing."

Sanae smiled innocently. "Well, miracles are a great source of power, huh?"

"What was so miraculous about _that_?" Donald demanded to know.

"Well, did you hold back?" Sora asked, and Sanae merely shrugged, still smiling innocently.

Marisa lowered her altitude, leaning towards Sanae with an even larger grin. "By the way, Smiles, your shrine isn't as tough as I thought it was."

Confused, Sanae glanced at Marisa, who pointed to the shrine. The scene before them dropped all jaws that didn't belong to a witch.

"W-what... how... when did..." Sanae muttered, staring at the shrine's wreckage. A large concrete block had apparently smashed the building, leaving little standing.

"You wouldn't believe how close I got to getting squished!" Marisa laughed as if she hadn't been in imminent danger. "Luckily, I'm far too awesome to let a little thing like that come close to offing me!"

"And your survival is just salt in the wound," A new voice sighed, and everyone glanced up to see two women descend upon them. One of them was a purple haired woman dressed in red, the other looked like a little girl with a somewhat disturbing hat.

Sanae looked somewhat fearful as the women descended, and immediately babbled her apologies. "L-Lady Kankao, Lady Suwako! I didn't mean to! I swear, this isn't my fault, he made me lose my con-"

The smaller of the two simply smiled brightly and leaned up to pat the girl's head. "Don't worry about it so much! We're not mad!"

"You're not...?" Sanae said hopefully.

"'Course not! We can fix the shrine no problem!" The little girl said reassuringly. "Of course, your manga and games are completely destroyed, no hope of recovery. Sorry."

Leaving Sanae looking as crushed as the shrine, the little girl turned to Sora, who watched her uneasily.

"Name's Suwako Moriya!" The girl said, holding out her hand. "Gensokyo's lovely frog god, and Sanae's awesome ancestor!"

"H-hello..." Sora muttered,shaking the girl's hand. She was a _frog god? _And the shrine maiden's ancestor on top of that? He expected a goddess to look much older than this.

"Kanako," The other woman introduced herself as Suwako went to converse with Donald and Goofy. "Moriya Shrine's current god. So, I suppose you beat Sanae. And Remilia too, somehow."

"Is it that hard to believe?" Sora asked, deciding not to enquire about the 'current god' title. Kanako merely shrugged.

"I just find it difficult to believe you defeated a vampire and a shrine maiden with nothing more than a key."

_Again with the keyblade... at least everyone else takes it in stride..._ Sora mentally sighed.

"Anyway..." Kanako turned to Sanae, who had turned way from the group to sulk over her lost possessions. "Sanae! Be a sport and at least give this boy a clue as to what he's facing next!"

Sighing wearily, Sanae turned to Sora and cleared her throat. Attempting to sound peppy, the shrine maiden muttered dully, "Well, you're gonna fight an immortal, a crazy woman, and another shrine maiden. Have fun."

Kanako shook her head and petted Sanae's head. "Don't get all moody. Look, I'll ask Yukari to send some new manga and stuff over, okay?"

Sanae nodded, looking marginally happier.

"Yukari!" Sora suddenly cried out. "I've been wanting to ask, but who_ is _she?"

Kanako looked at Sora for a second, looking thoughtful. Should she say anything? Well, why not?

"Yukari Yakumo? Well, she's an important figure in Gensokyo," The god explained briefly, still comforting Sanae. "She's lazy, conniving, annoying and manipulative, so you might want to never meet her."

"...Huh," Sora said simply. "Is that what she's nromally like? She hasn't ended up possessed by a Heartless or something?"

Kanako stifled a laugh at that question. "No, no... I'm sure she's fine. Ah, there's your exit."

The goddess nodded her head to the side, where a gap had appeared. It looked just as freaky as the last time as well.

"Going already?" Suwako asked the group. "Oh well, gotta get that thing over and done with, huh? Remember, if you need any divine miracles, you can always come to Moriya Shrine for awesome services! Oh, and we'll even throw in a discount for hanging out with Sanae for a day!"

Blinking in confusion, Sora merely replied with an unsure 'okay', and stepped towards the gap along with Donald and Goofy.

"Hey, Sora?"

Sora turned back to look at Sanae, who gave him a small smile. "Try and have some fun with this whole thing, huh? I'm sure the whole 'villain' thing will be sorted out soon enough."

Grinning back, Sora thanked her and stepped through the gap.

"Hope you guys haven't forgotten about me, ze." Marisa said, zipping past Donald and Goofy through the gap. After narrowly avoiding getting run down by the witch, the two followed after them.

The gap closed directly after that, and silence fell upon them for a few seconds.

_"...Kanako, you flatter me too much," _Yukari's teasing voice floated through the air.

"Because I'm such a nice person," Kanako replied dismissively. Turning towards the ruined shrine, she asked, "So, you gonna help with the mess you helped create?"

_"Me?"_

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't found it necessary to harrass some random kid." Kanako pointed out.

Yukari 'hmph'ed. _"Hey, at least I'm doing my part to save the multiverse, what about you?"_

"Uh, what?"

_"There, all gone." _Yukari said, and the concrete block fell into a large gap. _"Happy now? Gotta go, I have some progress to watch."_

Sanae, Suwako and Kanako glanced at each other, wondering just what Yukari had meant about saving the 'multiverse'. Did it have anything to do with those heartless?

Eventually, Suwako muttered, "... Huh, you forgot to ask her about the manga."

* * *

><p>The four stepped out into what appeared to the forest that surrounded the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but it looked somewhat different. There was a lot more bamboo for starters.<p>

Marisa glanced around the area, then sighed. "Lovely, ze. The Forest of the Lost."

"The Forest of the Lost?" Goofy repeated.

"Yes, the Forest of the Lost," Marisa reiterated. "It's a forest where you get lost, ze."

"... Are we lost now?" Sora asked, hoping that wasn't the case.

Marisa only shrugged. "Maybe, but I know thing; since we're here, your next opponent's gotta be either Kaguya or Mokou. I'm thinking Mokou."

"Great..." Sora sighed as he began to walk onwards. "So, which one is she? the crazy one?"

"Immortal," Marisa corrected, grinning widely as she guided her broom to fly alongside Sora. "And let me tell ya, you'll have no chance of keeping her down, ze. No fancy whirlwind tricks or anger exploitations to use here. She'll incinerate you."

"So how are we supposed to fight her?" Donald asked with worry. "If she can't be hurt-"

"Oh, you can hurt her, all right." Marisa corrected the wizard. "It's just that she'll recover before you know it. I think you guys may need my help on this one, ze!"

Sora looked up at the witch and grinned widely. "You'll help? Awesome!"

"For a price." Marisa added, and Sora's smile dropped.

"...Okay, how much?"

Marisa gave Sora a thoughtful glance. "Well, your money's worthless here...and you don't have much of anything that's valuable..." Marisa snapped her fingers. "Well, that just leaves your funky key sword!"

Sora gave Marisa a look of surprise. "You want my Keyblade?"

"Of course! I can tell that thing's loaded with insane amounts of energy, ze!" Marisa said excitedly. "If that key's the reason you got this far, it must be powerful!"

Sora gave the witch a thoughtful look. Given the Keyblade's nature, there was no way Marisa could wield one. But she didn't know that...

"Deal!" Sora said, and Marisa looked surprised, then suspicious.

"You're giving it away that easy, ze? Why?"

Sora only shrugged. "Well, I suppose I could always get an-"

A loud screamed pierced the air, startling the group. Weapons drawn, they looked around the area. "What was that?" Donald asked.

"It came from over there!" Marisa pointed to a pathway to their left. "Maybe someone ran into those Heartmore's?"

_She's getting it wrong on purpose now, isn't she?_ Sora wondered as he immediately dashed towards the path. "Come on, we gotta help!"

The four sped forward, hoping to save whoever was in trouble before it was too late.

* * *

><p>Chortling to herself, Yukari leaned back in her chair as she watched Sora and friends rush off to the rescue of a nearby damsel. "Well, Ran? Convinced of his skill yet?"<p>

"... Not really," Ran replied. "Had Sanae really been trying, he wouldn't have lasted past her first spell card."

"Oh please, the boy could _easily _survive those low-level spells!" Yukari replied. "Anyway, I can't wait for this next fight. I suspect he'll pull out that technique I've been _dying _to see!"

Ran gave Yukari another questioning look. "Technique?"

"It'll be cool," Yukari promised with a wide grin, before taking a swig from her bottle. "And probably his only hope of keeping up with an immortal."

* * *

><p><strong>Ah, finally, the new TH chapter. For those who don't know and cared deeply for my heavily noticed absence, I was away on holiday, and I had a chapter of Tsugi Monogatari to write. But now I'm back and updating at... a somewhat slow pace, I suppose. Which'll only get slower once College starts =.=<strong>

**Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Again, thank you GIG for taking the time to look it over.**


	7. Chapter 7 Phoenix, Rabbits and Buttercup

Surrounded on all sides, the rabbit girl wondered why she had to venture out from home today of all days. After all, there were those weird monsters that seemed far more tenacious and persistent than any fairy, with several proving to be quite a bit stronger than them as well. But nooo, she just _had_ to confirm if that rumour with the kappa selling Lunarian weaponry was true... and then she just had to go and get lost in the forest she lived in. Terrific. Just terrific.

The fairy-like heartless bobbed up and down as they circled the rabbit, a hungry look in their eyes. "S-someone come and help me please!" She yelled frantically, constantly circling to keep the heartless in sight. The rabbit would have fought them off, being a former soldier and all, but she had dropped her pistol in a panic, and the thought of trying to use her madness-inducing eyes hadn't occured to her yet.

Fortunately, a group of heroes happened to be attracted by her screams. With Sora leading, he burst onto the scene, immediately analysing the situation.

With Keyblade in hand, Sora rushed forward and leaped high, landing in front of the rabbit girl and striking at the Heartless in front of him.

Surprised, the bunny-eared female watched as three others, a duck youkai (?), a... goofy looking thing-youkai-maybe-canine-what-was-he-exactly? And Marisa Kirisame. That also elicited some surprise, but she was a familiar face, so she would do as a saviour.

"You okay?" Sora asked as Donald threw a blizzard spell at one of the Heartless from behind, instantly freezing it. Goofy quickly followed up by ramming into another with his shield, and Marisa finished up by lazily firing star-shaped bullets from her hakkero.

With the situation swiftly dealt with, the rabbit girl blinked in surprise, before saying to Sora, "Um, thank you very much, sir. That was... kinda close, I guess."

Sora glanced at the girl, keyblade disappearing. _Huh, they have bunny girls too? What _don't_ they have here? _He wondered.

The bunny girl in question was fairly tall, and wearing some sort of military-like uniform. An empty holster rested against her hip, and white rabbit ears lay across her violet hair. And her red eyes, that Sora found himself gazing at...

Noticing that Sora was gazing intently at her, the rabbit's eyes widened when she realised what was happening and quickly tore her own gaze away. It wouldn't do to scramble the brains of someone who just rescued her, after all...

Sora blinked in confusion and rubbed the back of his head. He felt like he'd just dozed off for a moment. That was odd.

Marisa floated closer to the bunny, smirking slightly. "Huh, I thought you guys hardly ever left Eientei. Thought you'd at least travel in packs or something, ze."

"Why would we do that?" The bunny replied in confusion, before shaking her head and continued, "Um, never mind. Look, sorry to ask for more help, but can you guys point me in Eientei's general direction, please? I kinda want to go home before they come back."

"En...tay?" Goofy muttered in wonder.

"Entei?" Donald said in confusion

"...Where?" Sora asked, clearly as lost as the girl he saved. "Um, sorry, don't my way around here. I'm Sora, by the way. That's Donald and Goofy."

"I'm Reisen," Reisen replied, and glanced upwards to Marisa. "Uh... do you know?"

Marisa only shrugged and pointed to her left. "Heck if I know, just go there and see where it goes," Marisa lifted her gaze to where she was pointing, a look of surprise crossing her face. "Huh, there's Mokou."

"Mokou?" Reisen faced the direction Marisa was pointing to see a tall woman with knee-length, silver/white hair leaning against a tree. She wore a bored expression as she regarded the group, hands in pockets. "She's here too? I hope she wasn't just watching all this time..."

Mokou straightened herself and stared at Reisen, who seemed to shrink under her stare. After several long, silent moments, the woman pointed to her right.

Everyone merely blinked at her for several more moments, wondering what she was doing. Eventually, after much glancing back and forth, a light seemed to shine in Reisen's head. "Ah! Eientei is that way, right?"

Mokou nodded once.

"T-thank you very much!" Reisen said gratefully, and turned to the group. "And thanks again for the help. I shouldn't need any more!"

With a bright smile, Reisen hurried eastward to her home. The group watched her go before returning attention to Mokou.

... Then back to Reisen as she stopped, made a frustrated groan, and searched the ground for something. Finding it a moment later, Reisen hurried to her pistol and picked it up, carefully inspecting it for any damage.

Satisfied, Resisen holstered the weapon, glanced at Sora and the others and grinned sheepishly. "Uh... bye for real!"

Reisen scampered off once again, and everyone seemed to be waiting to see if she would return. When it was apparent that no, Reisen would not make another appearance, the group faced Mokou again.

On guard, Sora said to the white-haired woman, "Mokou, right? Are you here to fight?"

Mokou began to walk closer, hands still in pockets as she coolly regarded the group. A look of mild dislike crossed her face when she saw Marisa, but was otherwise impassive. Marisa herself was grinning in anticipation as she awaited the inevitable batle.

"Uh, are we fighting?" Sora asked as Mokou walked closer and closer. Donald and Goofy stood protectively in front of Sora, weapons held aloft.

"No funny stuff!" Donald demanded.

"We'd rather not fight," Goofy added. "We're really good guys, y'see!"

Mokou stopped several paces from the group, and merely glanced at Sora, Donald and Goofy in turn. An awkward silence filled the forest as they all wondered what Mokou was doing.

Finally, after an eternity of silence, the odd woman spoke, "You're not bad guys."

"... Glad you noticed," Sora laughed nervously. "So, are we skipping the fight, or is this gonna be another a repeat of what happened at the shrine?"

"Waste of time." Mokou grunted. Leaving the group in shock, Mokou simply turned and began to stroll in Eientei's general direction.

Blinking in surprise, Sora watched Mokou leave. "... Huh? Wait a minute, you don't wanna fight?"

"No point," Mokou called back dismissively.

Glancing at each other in surprise, Sora just grinned and said, "Well, lucky us, huh?"

"Now wait just a minute, ze!" Marisa said, zooming after Mokou and parking herself in front of the immortal. "Don't walk away! We came expecting a fight, so it's only good and right that you give us one!"

"Don't want to," Mokou grunted, attempting to step past Marisa, who merely shifted to block Mokou's path.

"Well, we do!"

"Uh, no we don't?" Sora corrected the witch nervously.

Ignoring the keyblade bearer, Marisa continued, "And besides, aren't ya still sore about me whooping your butt, ze? Surely the fires of revenge burn in your soul or something, ze!"

Mokou gave Marisa a cold glare for several moments, hands still in pockets. "... They do, Kirisame."

"Then we fight!" Marisa announced in a conclusive tone.

"But they don't burn for you. Or Hakurei. Or Margatroid or anyone else," Mokou continued, stepping past Marisa and continuing her journey. "Only one person has my attention. No point in wasting time with you."

Marisa watched as Mokou left, her expression growing angrier and angrier, as if deeply offended by what Mokou said. Apparently, she didn't like being brushed off all that much.

Sora, Donald and Goofy however, were immensely relieved. That was one less battle they had to deal with, at least.

* * *

><p>Ran glanced at Yukari, noticing that she seemed mildly surprised and annoyed. Apparently, the omniscient woman had missed this possibility. "Yukari?"<p>

"How annoying..." Yukari sighed. "I _told_ her that this was important... can't she forget about that princess for ten minutes?"

"Guess not," Ran shrugged. "So, what will you do now?"

"Duh. Fix this," Yukari replied with a sigh. Waving her hand lazily, a gap formed behind Ran. "Ran, be a dear and convince Mokou to fight that boy."

Ran gave Yukari a doubtful look. She highly doubted that a few words would sway Mokou. After all, she had already witnessed Sora save that moon rabbit, thereby debunking Yukari's 'this guy is totally evil and stuff' explanation.

Still, as Yukari's shikigami, she couldn't just refuse the order. She had no choice but to try. Bowing her head, Ran turned to leave.

_Now, just how am I supposed to convince that person to fght?_ Ran wondered with a small frown as she entered the gap.

Watching Ran leave, Chen turned to Yukari and asked, "Yukari, why doesn't the fire birdy want to fight? Fighting's fun!"

"She's a bit of an idiot," Yukari shrugged, then looked thoughtful. "...No wait, that's the hell raven, right? Mokou's... an idiot, yeah." The gap youkai returned her attention to the crystal ball. "Well anyway, it'll be sorted soon enough. Might as well see what the rest are up to..."

Waving her hand over the sphere, the scene shifted from the bamboo forest to the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu sat upon her porch, sipping tea as she watched the gateway that led to the towering stone steps, which in turn led to the village below.

"Looks like someone's taking it easy," Yukari smiled affectionately. "Then again, no Heartless can get near that girl. Bet she's bored."

Another wave of the hand, another shifting of the scene. This time it was Yuuka's garden. She seemed to be facing something with a look of satisfaction, with a hand resting on her chin and nodding occasionally.

"You look happy, Yuuka." Yukari commented, and Yuuka's smile grew.

"I guess I am," Yuuka replied. "I think I got a good deal here."

"Deal? You mean the one where I let you be the final opponent?" Yukari asked, and Yuuka giggled.

"Quiet, you'll spoil the ending conflict!" Yuuka chided gently. "No, no... you know that annoying old witch? Uh, what's-her-name...? Mafecelint?"

"Maleficent," Yukari corrected. "What about her?"

Yuuka grinned as she turned her head to the left, as if she could see a camera to face Yukari directly. "Well, after her tubby assistant tried to act all high and mighty to me, she came along with this guy and 'let me off' with a warning. Oh, and to use Buttercup to begin 'global' domination of our isolated country or something."

The scene zoomed out, and Yukari saw a large, butterfly-like Hearltess floating above the garden. Purple in colour, the wings were translucent, with what looked tiny blades for legs. Yukari pictured it as the unholy hell spawn of an evil Yuyuko Saigyouji.

"Cute, isn't it?" Yuuka asked proudly. "I named it myself! Anyway, I can't wait to test this thing out!"

"...Yuuka, I never authorised the use of Heartless," Yukari said in a warning tone. "We are supposed to be getting _rid_ of them, not using them as tools."

"Oh relax, Yukarin!" Yuuka sighed in mock exasperation. "As fun as it would be, I'm not gonna use this thing to feast upon the masses. I figured it would make a good mini boss for that young Sora chap."

A faint expression of suspicion crossed Yukari's face. She knew Yuuka was rather unpredictable and wild, but she also made Gensokyo her home. Despite the distrust, she was sure Yuuka could handle dealing with the invaders without turning on everybody, but perhaps that had been too hopeful.

"Remember Yuuka, I can expel you at any time," Yukari warned. "If I even see so much as a hint of treachery-"

"Blah blah blah, be a good girl, yadda yadda..." Yuuka sighed. "Seriously woman, calm down! I'm beginning to think you don't trust me to deal with the devil and play with said devil's pets!"

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Yukari muttered sarcastically.

"Now, me and Buttercup here are gonna go find our prodigious young hero," Yuuka informed Yukari. "And when we do, Buttercup's gonna initiate battle, Sora will do battle, most likely win because I guess he has no idea how to actually lose to these guys, and then he can continue to fight the _real_ bosses!"

Again, Yukari sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "Well, if your intentions are pure, I suppose I can allow this, but you'll owe me."

"Smashing." Yuuka smiled as she began to fly upwards, landing on the Heartless' back.

"And also, I'm having a little difficulty convincing Mokou to fight him. Careful when you unleash your new pet, you might ruin a chance for them to battle."

Yuuka merely nodded as she leaned down to pat the creature's head. It was strangely docile for a being hell bent on collecting hearts. Then again, it was apparently under that flower youkai's control...

"I think Eientei should be a good target," Yuuka said with a knowing smile. "I have a feeling that stuff should go down there."

Casting the flower youkai one more suspicous glance, Yukari switched the display back to the forest, a small frown on her face.

"...Yukari?" Chen asked. The gap youkai had almost forgotten she was even there. "What just happened? Is Yuuka a baddy?"

"... No idea," Yukari replied. "But if she is, then she will be dealt with accordingly. Never mind that though, let's see what's going on here."

* * *

><p>"What's with her?" Donald whispered to Goofy, pointing at a sulking Marisa. "Did she really want to fight that much?"<p>

"I guess so..." Goofy replied quietly. "I wonder why?"

"I guess she just likes to fight," Sora shugged, overhearing the two. "We'll probably need to fight someone else soon enough, anyway..."

Marisa ceased her grumbling about 'opposing the natural order' and turned to face the group. "Just how many people are you fighting exactly, ze?"

Sora only shrugged. "Not too many more, I hope. I don't think I've ever seen so many battle-loving people as you guys, though!"

"Well, it _is_ quite fun!" Marisa replied with a wide smile. "So... where to next?"

Sora, Donald and Goofy glanced at each other, as if expecting one of them to provide an answer. When no location became apparent, Sora suggested, "Well... how about we find Yukari?"

Marisa thought that over for a moment, before nodding. "Okay then. It's gonna be quite hard getting to her house, ze. But that shouldn't be enough to stop someone like me!"

Marisa's stomach growled at that moment, and Marisa gave herself a questioning glance before grinning widely and laughing.

"But first, some food, ze! Let's go to Kaguya's, her rabbits give out free meals!"

"Gawrsh, that's awfully generous of them!" Goofy commented brightly.

"Well, I guess we can use this time to rest," Sora said thoughtfully. "After all, it's hard to save people on an empty stomach."

Donald quipped sarcastically, "Good idea Sora! Put off rescuing someone in peril for a few minutes!"

Marisa only laughed at that. "Yer beginning to blend in already!" The witch waved an arm as she began to fly off in the direction Reisen and Mokou left. "Well, come on! Can't keep that grub waiting, ze!"

* * *

><p>Mokou tried her hardest to ignore the persistent kitsune, but it was proving quite difficult. Ran wouldn't shut up, for one. And the shikigami didn't quite seem to understand the hint that accompanied a fireball thrown her way. How irritating.<p>

Finally, Mokou stopped. Keeping her gaze toward her goal, she asked, "Fine, let's say I do fight that boy. What would the result be? If Yukari wants me to hold back, he's clearly a weakling."

"I don't know what it is exactly," Ran admitted. "But she shows great interest in him. Or maybe his weapon, I don't know. Either way, all you need to do is stand around and throw a little bit of magic around! Surely you can spare five minutes for that?"

"I could," Mokou shrugged. "But I don't see what I get out of it."

Ran sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation. Why did she have to be so difficult? Well, if simply asking wouldn't get her anywhere, maybe trickery was the answer? Now, how to trick Mokou into bothering to fight that boy?

"Well, what if that boy becomes friends with Kaguya Houraisan?" Ran tried. "She might convince him to fight you!"

"Then let her," Mokou replied as she begun her walk again. "Wouldn't be the first time she tried that."

_... Why can't we just ask someone else?_ Ran wondered irritably. There were surely plenty of others who would gladly fight the 'menace'. In fact, Marisa would probably do it! As long as she got to fight someone, friend or foe, she was happy! Then again, that witch would probably blast him to pieces rather than show restraint...

"Well, think of it as a training session then!" Ran attempted as she hurried after the immortal. "He's already defeated Remilia and Sanae! The boy's quite resourceful!"

"Are you ever going to shut up?" Mokou sighed.

"Not until you agree." Ran replied.

Mokou shook her head slowly as she pondered. There really was no point in fighting that boy. He clearly wasn't evil at all, and there was no way he could be strong enough to fight her. Even if he did somehow beat Remilia and Sanae, Mokou wasn't a practicioner of restraint.

"Tell you what. If that boy can prove his mettle, I'll fight him," Mokou said off-handedly.

"Guess that'll do," Ran muttered. "How should he go about doing that then?"

Mokou only shrugged and continued walking.

_Great. Now I'm going to have to create a whole scenario just to set up a stupid fight._ Ran thought with dread. _Then make sure Mokou doesn't roast the guy alive. I don't get paid enough for this._

_"Ran? How's it going?" _Yukari's voice drifted through the shikigami's head.

"Just fine, I guess. Sora needs to prove himself to Mokou before she'll fight," Ran reported. "Dunno how to go about that though."

Yukari lapsed into thoughtful silence for a moment, and Ran heard a mental chuckle come from her master. Sounded like she'd found a solution already.

_"I take it Mokou's looking for Kaguya?" _Yukari asked, and Ran replied in an affirmative. _"Good. Guess that lot'll be following soon enough."_

Ran was beginning to hear the voice of Marisa and those other three. Yeah, seemed like they were headed for Eientei as well.

_"Come on back, let's see how things unfold!"_ Yukari said brightly as a gap appeared before Ran. It sounded like Yukari had things back on track now.

With a curious glance in the direction of the voices, Ran entered the gap, which disappeared soon after.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile, over at Eientei...<em>

Shaking her head in disapproval, the silver-haired woman waved her cane-like ruler at Reisen, who was clutching at her now-pained forehead. "Really now, how many times do I have to tell you, Reisen? If you're going to venture outside, have the decency to not drop your weapon! I thought you were a trained soldier?"

"S-sorry..." Reisen mumbled. "It... slipped."

Reisen received a sharp poke in the stomach for her excuse, and Reisen clutched at her stomach as Eirin Yagokoro laid the ruler on her desk, its job done. Why Eirin had it when she had no practical use for it, no one knew. Unless it's actual purpose was to whack and poke her subjects. Or rather, Reisen.

"Guns don't slip from their holsters, Udonge," Eirin pointed out with a small, amused smile. "Unless the Lunarians managed to mess up something as simple a pouch for a gun, I'd say it slipped from your grasp. How unprofessional."

Reisen only stared at the floor, feeling ashamed and embarrassed.

"Still, you got back safely, so I guess that's something," Eirin continued in the tone one would take if they realised they'd just received an extra helping of food they knew they wouldn't be able to finish. "Who did you say came to your rescue?"

"Uh, Marisa did," Reisen said. "And... this guy named Sora. There were these two wierd youkai with them too."

Eirin looked mildly intrigued. "Huh. Well, you're lucky they bothered to help. There's laundry that needs done, and I believe that's your job for today."

Nodding glumly, Reien turned to leave Eirin's office, but paused when the Lunarian medic called her back.

"I'd appreciate it if you took Tewi with you next time you leave for the human village," Eirin informed her. "At least until this Heartless infestation is dealt with. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Reisen answered with a nod and took her leave.

Eirin sighed once her office was empty of all but herself. It was a wonder Reisen managed to last as long as she did before coming to Gensokyo from the moon. Well, Reisen _could _be competent and dependable, but those moments were incredibly rare, sadly enough.

_At least she got back safely..._ Eirin thought to herself. _Those Heartless are incredibly dangerous._

Eirin was an incredibly long-lived individual. Throughout her long life, she had witnessed many things. The rise and fall of monarchies, seemingly world-rending disasters... those monsters were probably the most dangerous thing she had ever encountered.

From her limited observations, the Heartless coveted the hearts of others, banishing their victims to 'darkness' were they would in turn become Heartless. It was like a disease.

The silver-haired woman smiled slightly at that thought. If she thought of the Heartless as a disease, then their had to exist an antibody, right? None of the inhabitants of Gensokyo, no matter how powerful, had found a way to decisively eradicate them. Perhaps their weakness was not something found in Gensokyo? It wasn't like those creatures were natives,after all...

As Eirin pondered on the Heartless some more, a sudden rumbling spread throughout Eientei. The rabbits that made Eientei their home stopped whatever work they were carrying out, looking panicked. Another rumbling sound shook the sturdy building.

A moment of silence, then the sound of heavy wing beats. The rabbits were noticeably afraid, on the verge of panic. Whatever that sound was, it was very close.

Except for one. Compared to most other rabbits in Eientei, this one was very short in appearance, but much more powerful.

Wearing a pink dress, with bunny ears held to the sky over her dark hair, Tewi Inaba barked at the rabbits nearby. "Quit panicking! It's just a little quake!"

"B-b-but what if it's a giant h-h-h-heartless!" A young rabbit squeaked fearfully.

"Then we protect the princess and our home!" Tewi told the rabbit, hands on hips. "Now, anybody actually know what it is that's out there?"

"... A Heartless?" Another rabbit suggested, and Tewi sighed in frustration.

"Fine, I'll see for myself. You lot stay back here and cry or something." The short bunny girl suggested, marching towards the foyer of Eientei.

As Tewi moved to investigate, Reisen was rooted to the ground, unsure of what to do as a discarded wash basket lay at her feet. She didn't like the idea of checking what the source of that disturbance was, but it was probably something she should do... but then, what if the princess was undefended? Would immortality protect her from a Heartless? Maybe she should decide soon, otherwise...

"Hm? Reisen?" Someone spoke from behind the rabbit, and she jumped away from the speaker in surprise. Before her stood the Lunarian Princess herself. Kaguya Houraisan.

Considerd by many to be the pinnacle of beauty, the black-haired princess smiled cheerfully, despite the troubles going on outside. "Hiya Reisen. What was that big noise? Did Mokou blow something up?"

"I-I don't think so..." Reisen muttered. "Um, Princess, maybe you should return to your room?"

Kaguya pouted. "But I don't want to be locked up in a boring place if something big is going down!"

"Maybe so, but-" Reisen's argument was silenced when a large chunk of the roof suddenly caved in to their right. Yelling in fright, Reisen drew her pistol and aimed wildly at the large hole in the ceiling, where a giant butterfly Heartless could be seen. And standing atop its head... No, no it couldn't be.

Reisen's jaw came crashing to ground level in utter shock and fear. Forget the Heartless, it was nothing more than a large monstrosity tearing down the building. The... _thing _that rode upon it was the true terror, especially since it was apparently with the Heartless.

"Oh? Isn't that Yuuka Kazami?" Kaguya asked in slight wonder, unperturbed by the damage. "I wonder why she's with that Heartless. Is she evil, maybe?"

_Yes, for the love of all that is holy, she is totally evil and behind everything and we are so doomed. _Reisen thought in panic. Ever since she came to Gensokyo, she was told nothing but horror stories about that woman, and their single encounter from when Yuuka visited the place had been... scary. Not because of any threats or attacks, but the aura she exuded... those creeepy smiles she made when enquiring if Eirin could cure this or that... and that one glance she received when Eirin made a passing joke that Reisen liked getting disciplined...

Yuuka spotted the two and waved cheerfully, as if she hadn't just blown up a section of the rabbit's home and was merely stopping by for a visit.

"Hey~ Rabbit Princess Two! And Alien Rabbit! It's been a while!" The flower youkai called.

"It has!" Kaguya replied in total ease, having no idea why she was referred to as 'Rabbit Princess Two'. It was deemed unimportant, however. "Is that a new pet?"

"It is, yeah!" Yuuka patted the Heartless affectionately. "Name's Buttercup! Say hi, Buttercup!"

The Heartless screeched, causing a small groan of despair to escape from Reisen's lips as she struggled to aim her gun. It felt like a useless gesture, given who it was pointed at, but she might as well pretend to be an effective guard.

"Lovely name!" Kaguya praised. "But I thought Heartless were bad?"

Before Yuuka could answer, several new arrivals appeared. First up was Eirin, who rushed to the scene and grabbed the princess' hand, then jolting Reisen into action and ordering her to assist the other rabbit's in evacuating.

At roughly the same time, Yuuka sensed a magical projectile heading her way. Opening her umbrella, Yuuka turned and used it to block a fireball, then grinned at the silvery-haired immortal below her, who glared at Yuuka coldly, another fireball in her palm.

"Mokou, how ya doing?" Yuuka asked pleasantly. "Did Sora beat you up yet?"

"... What are you doing, Kazami?" Mokou asked icily. "You should know that only I will fight the princess."

"Don't be greedy," Yuuka lectured, wagging a finger at Mokou. "Besides, you have that boy to fight, right? Get on with that and you can continue pretending to hate your precious little princess."

Mokou's eyes flashed in anger at Yuuka's words. "...And what of you, Kazami? I thought you would fight him too, not become an enemy to all of us."

"I'm just making this whole ordeal interesting!" Yuuka said defensively. "What sounds more fun? A plain old, straight up boss rush, or a tale of betrayal added to the mix?"

Mokou merely sighed and threw the fireball, which was again blocked. That Yuuka was completely insane.. and so was Yukari for letting the flower youkai participate. Did she seriously think anything good would come from letting her mess around with Heartless?

"Anyway, I'd suggest staying put!" Yuuka called to the immortal. "Something interesting is gonna happen!"

Yuuka again turned her head to look at Kaguya and Eirin, only to find that they had already vacated. Huh, she would have expected Yagokoro to at least fire a warning shot or something. No, wait...

The flower youkai shifted her umbrella to block an arrow from above. Eirin, floating above Yuuka, frowned and flew back to an undamaged portion of the ceiling. It seemed that she had already hidden Kaguya away somewhere. Impressive, vut not like it actually mattered.

"You too!" Yuuka said to Eirin with a wide grin. "Watch as the otherworldly hero tries to stop Buttercup's rampage!"

While Eirin looked suspicious, Mokou glanced over her shoulder, hearing voices. From the sound of things, Kirisame, that boy and his companions had followed for some reason.

* * *

><p>"Now if that ain't the biggest Heartless ya've ever seen, ze!" Marisa whistled as they approached Eientei.<p>

"Meh. Seen bigger," Sora replied, again summoning his Keyblade in the usual flash of light. "But big or not, we gotta get rid of it!"

"Right!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed in unison, only for Goofy to peer closer at a figure standing atop the Heartless' head. "Huh? Who's that up there?"

Marisa brought her hand to her brow as she tried to see from their current distance. After a moment, she slowly lowered her hand, a look of excitement and concern crossing her face.

"Uh... I'm not exactly sure, but I have a strange feeling that Yuuka's controlling that thing."

"Yuuka?" Sora repeated. Yuuka... Yuuka... He'd heard that name not too long ago, right?

Goofy seemed to remember somewhat quicker than Sora. "You mean that woman with the green hair we saw back at the mansion?"

"Wak! She _was_ evil!" Donald cried out, as if he had suspected this all along.

Marisa scratched the back of her head in wonder. Yuuka was odd, yes, but was she really bad enough to side with those Heartless? Maybe, but Marisa's intuition told her that something didn't add up.

Well, who cared? If Yuuka was an enemy, then they simply had to defeat her and get some answers then. As was the natural order.

"Well, you won't be fighting an immortal, ze," Marisa commented as the group rushed to the scene. "But you got yourselves a much worse deal. Congrats."

* * *

><p>"I have to say, I am not liking this turn of events. At all." Ran commented as she frowned at the crystal ball.<p>

"Why? It's gotten to an exciting part again!" Chen pointed out cheerfully, apparently unaware that 'Yuuka + Heartless = R.I.P. All Life As We Know It'.

Yukari smiled faintly, however. Not her usual 'oh, this is turning out great' smile, but more of an 'well, things are kinda sorta almost going exactly as planned. Goodie' smile.

"I understand your reservations Ran, but I have faith things will work out," Yukari said optimistically. "Worst case scenario, I personally sort it all out. And since I'm already master-minding this whole plot..."

_Even though you're sorely lacking the necessary amount of convoluted events and scenarios to make it resemble an effort..._ Ran thought sarcastically.

"Although, there's still one tiny flaw I might need to iron out..." Yukari muttered thoughtfully, leaning forward and resting her chin upon her hands.

"Did you forget to tell Kazami that Heartless are a no-go?" Ran suggested, and Yukari chuckled slightly.

"No no, not that, it's just... if Marisa helps Sora out as she is, then there wouldn't be a need to get creative, would there?"

Ran tilted her head, looking quizzically at Yukari. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, every fight would be finished in one Master Spark," Yukari replied. "As pretty as that laser is, it's still rather boring, so If Marisa is to be a part of Sora's roster from now on, she needs to be depowered. Nerfed. Weakened arbitrarily."

"... Or we could leave her power as is," Ran suggested. "I see no need to depower someone who is already more susceptible than most to those Heartless."

Yukari chuckled again. "You believe I would let her fall prey to them? Please, I'll leave her with _just_ enough strength to fight back, but she won't be soloing them any time soon!"

Ran only sighed and shook her head. Yukari really loved to over-complicate things, didn't she? If she wasn't planning for every tiny outcome imaginable to work in her favour in some form in any given scenario, she was deliberately making questionable choices to increase the difficulty of any given task.

Chen looked from her master, to her master's master, with a slight frown. "Why do you guys keep talking about confusing things? What's going on?"

"Business, of course," Yukari replied with a smile. "Boring business stuff that lacks all fun."

"Oh, okay." Chen went back to watching the oncoming fight, all interest in the discussion lost.

* * *

><p><strong>Not much else to say except thanks to GIG for helping out again. So thanks again.<strong>


	8. Chapter 8  Giant MidBoss Time

Sora, Donald and Goofy were no strangers to giant Heartless. While annoying, the only real advantage they tended to hold was the property damage they could inflict, and even then the Heartless rarely broke anything. Odd.

"So, how we gonna go about this?" Sora asked the others as they rushed to the damaged building.

"That's easy; Spark it!" Marisa laughed. "The real problem is Yuuka, ze."

"How dangerous is she?" Donald asked nervously.

"Well, you know how I'm super awesomely strong?"

The three nodded.

"Well, she can fight me without even trying," Marisa said, before quickly adding, "Obviously, I've beat her a bunch'a times too, but she is _tough_!"

"Wonderful…" Donald sighed.

"Don't give up before we even fight, Donald!" Goofy said encouragingly. "We've fought lots of strong guys before!"

Marisa began to laugh at that statement, drawing confused looks from the group, but before they could enquire about the humour of Goofy's words, they had arrived at the demolished Eientei building.

Weapons drawn, the four stared at the figure standing atop the giant butterfly Heartless, who sweetly smiled back at them.

"Hello again, boys!" Yuuka called down to them, tapping her foot lightly on the Heartless, causing it to stop chewing up the rest of Eientei and fall dormant. "Oh, and Kleptosame as well!"

Marisa, unfazed by the nickname, yelled back, "Hey Yuuka, what's with the team up, ze? I thought you liked this place?"

Yuuka's smile became far more chilling. "Well, it's nice, but there's too many annoying people in it, you know? Thought I'd clear the pests out."

Sora looked momentarily shocked at that statement, and intensified his glare. "How could you say that?"

"What I do is move my mouth and form sounds that sound like an understandable form of language used by everyone," Yuuka explained patiently. "And, if you're interested, a new challenger approaches."

Confused, the group looked all around them, trying to identify this 'new challenger', when a yellowish blur shot past them, Marisa's surprised yelp and disappearance indicating that she had been taken.

"Marisa!" the remaining trip shouted, seeing that a figure stood a short distance, Marisa in her arms.

Struggling, Marisa glared at her attacker, and blinked in surprise. "…Ran? What the heck're ya doing?"

Silently, Ran tapped the witch's forehead, a pale blue light emanating from her fingertips. Marisa froze for a moment, before shaking her head and growling, "Get offa me! Don't make me-"

Ran unceremoniously dropped Marisa to the ground just as Sora yelled after her again. Sighing, Ran thought to herself, _What did I do to deserve this humiliation?_

Turning to face Sora, Donald and Goofy, Ran slapped on a rather convincingly maniacal grin and began to cackle loudly. "The Keyblade Master, am I correct? Just a little message from my divine mistress, Lady Yukari Yakumo; she eagerly awaits for you to overcome her test!"

Sora, taken aback by the fox girl's apparent madness, shook his head and replied, "Why? What's the point in all these battles?"

"Can't figure it out yet?" Ran laughed condescendingly with a shake of her head. "Yukari wants a new toy, something that won't instantly break if she so much as looks at it! You've caught her attention, boy. You'd better make sure she doesn't lose interest!"

And with that, Ran leaped to the air, barely avoiding the burst of danmaku Marisa tried to shoot at her from behind, and flew away. The group was left incredibly confused by what transpired, but there was no time to swell on that.

"That was surprising and all," Yuuka commented, looking somewhat insulted. "But I sure hope you lot haven't forgotten about me. I kinda went to great lengths to be noticed, as you may see." Yuuka pointed at the giant heartless she was standing on, which was now eyeing the group intently.

"Marisa, you okay?" Sora asked the witch as she returned to her previous position, picking up her broom with a murderous expression.

"Just fine," The witch growled, pointing her hakkero at the Heartless. "Gonna blow this thing away and then I'm blowing up Ran."

Yuuka chuckled, watching Marisa with amusement. "Good luck with that, Kleptosame. Even if I let you use my Spark, it's kinda obvious what Foxy just did."

Marisa ignored the flower youkai and began to charge her Master Spark. Or tried to. Frowning, Marisa noticed that no energy was gathering in her magical tool. "What the…?"

"Yep. De-powered." Yuuka nodded. "Guess Yukari didn't want a game breaker in the team, huh?"

"De…" Marisa's expression was slowly becoming one of pure, unmatched, incomprehensible rage, and a scream of utter fury was building within her.

"M-Marisa…?" Sora said nervously, and jumped at the primal howl that the witch replied with.

* * *

><p>"I have never heard a scream like that. Ever." Yukari said in awe, while Chen quivered behind her chair. "I mean… <em>wow<em>."

"Dunno what she's grumping for," Ran muttered darkly, stepping through a gap Yukari had provided for her a few moments ago. "She didn't have to act like a complete and utter fool."

"Well, if you'd embrace the ham, you wouldn't look, sound or feel so stupid," Yukari shrugged in response.

Ran simply snorted and observed how Sora and his pals would deal with Yuuka and her pet heartless. Chen, figuring the danger that accompanied Marisa's voice wouldn't dare attack them when both Ran and Yukari was present, shuffled to her master's side.

_Chen sure is lucky. _Ran thought glumly as she petted the cat-girl's head. _She doesn't have a master that'll order her to act like a complete idiot and make stupid stuff up on the fly just to cover up power-sealing._

* * *

><p>Sora, Donald and Goofy had frozen in place, mouths agape as Marisa finished her yelling. They had never heard anything so terrifying, so primal, so… <em>evil.<em>

Even Yuuka looked impressed, and she looked down at the witch with newfound admiration. "Wowee Marisa! You sure you aren't a youkai yet? 'Cause that was amazing! Right, Mokou?"

Mokou, leaning against a wall of Eientei with her hands pocketed, made no reply. At first, the group was confused as to where Mokou was, but Goofy's keen eye finally noticed her presence and pointed her out to the others.

"Mokou? Aw, don't tell me you're with the heartless too!" Sora groaned. Just when he thought he could skip a fight…

"Nope," Mokou replied simply. "Just gonna wait."

Sora simply shook his head. "Okay, fine, let's just get rid of that thing already."

"I'm going to destroy it." Marisa growled fiercely. "Then, I'm gonna find Ran and beat her up. Then, I'm gonna find Yukari and shove a Master spark right up her-"

"Watch your language! We did so well skirting around the cursing so far!" Yuuka called warningly. "Now, Buttercup! Fight!"

Yuuka leaped from the large heartless, which screeched almost as loudly as Marisa did and stomped towards Sora and Co.

Weapons at the ready, the group spread out, looking for a weak point that would force it to trip up before it could take flight.

Well, Marisa didn't. She opted for constantly attempting to fire a Master Spark amongst other spells in her arsenal, but only small bursts of danmaku was all she could muster. The indignation on her face was plain and evident.

"Marisa, mind giving me a lift?" Sora called to the witch, who glared darkly at him.

"A _lift_? Do I look like a freakin' courier, ze?"

"What? But-" Sora was forced to leap from the ground when the giant heartless attempted to stomp him. Donald struck at it with a Fire spell while Goofy tried to whack another leg with his shield.

"But I need your help to get up there!" Sora continued, pointing at the Heartless' head. "You're the one that can fly!"

Marisa sighed, then nodded her head at the back of her broom. Nodding his thanks, Sora ran to her location, fending off another attack with a Thunder spell as he did.

"Hop on, hold tight and watch were you put your hands!" Marisa ordered as Sora occupied the space behind her.

Sora looked somewhat unsure after that comment. Carefully, he placed his hands on Marisa's shoulders, who kicked off from the ground and rose quickly.

"Not exactly a great place to hang on for dear life, ze." Marisa pointed out with a slight grin. "So, how you goin' about this?"

"Well, I'm assuming its weakness is on the head or something." Sora replied, scanning the heartless. "Otherwise, this'll take a while."

"Strike weak point, massive damage," Marisa nodded, and swiftly avoided a lunging bite from the giant butterfly. "I dunno why, ze, but I can totally see Yuyuko owning this thing."

"Who?" Sora asked as he tried to swipe at its side. The skin was pretty durable.

"Never mind!"

Meanwhile, on ground, Donald and Goofy were trying to devise the best way to fight from their position. Their attacks weren't exactly doing much to bother the Heartless. Goofy had suggested trying to damage the legs to the point it couldn't stand, but Donald had pointed out that doing so may cause it to topple onto what remained of Eientei and hurt someone.

"But we can't do nothing!" Goofy said worriedly.

"We can't hurt innocent people either!" Donald argued, although he too looked somewhat lost.

"Just do it," Mokou suggested with a sigh. "The rabbits are all long gone."

Donald and Goofy gave her a suspicious look. "And how can we trust you?" Donald asked.

"Because if you don't do something, your friend up there will end up as that thing's meal." Mokou pointed out. "Now, get to it, please."

The duo gave each other an uneasy glance, but what she said made sense to them. As long as the heartless was still active, it might eventually strike Sora and Marisa down.

"Let's try combining our attacks!" Donald suggested, staff alight with flame.

"Okay!" Goofy agreed. "…So, how do we do that?"

"Uh…" Donald tried to think of some useful team attack they could use. Weird, with Sora they could think up something easily, but without him…

"I know! Goofy, throw your shield!" Donald commanded. With a nod, Goody wound back his arm and threw it at one of the heartless' legs.

Donald pointed his staff at the shield, and it was immediately cloaked in flame. The flaming shield struck the left fore leg, which seemed to cause it some degree of pain.

The shield somehow arced back to strike the heartless again. Donald now cloaked it within a field of lightning, striking the same leg. The heartless let out a cry of pain, the leg now shuddering under its weight.

"Almost there!" Donald exclaimed as the shield found its way back to Goofy's hand. "One more?"

* * *

><p>Yuuka watched the battle eagerly, wondering how the group would deal with this particular threat. Buttercup didn't seem incredibly mobile on the ground, but that was fine. The real challenge would come when it became an aerial battle. That would be quite a spectacle.<p>

"By the way, could you guys put your weapons down?" Yuuka asked, turning to face Eirin and Reisen, the latter of which had just arrived to assist the Lunarian doctor. Kind of pointless. Really, especially since the rabbit was quite close to wetting herself for some reason.

"What are you doing?" Eirin asked coldly, bow and arrow at the ready.

"Just making this situation a little more interesting." Yuuka said with a shrug. "Why?"

"You're tearing down our home." Eirin stated.

Yuuka rolled her eyes. "I'll pay for that then. Right now, kinda doing something important."

"Like what?"

Yuuka stepped slightly to the side, waving a hand at the ensuing battle. "That. Can you keep a secret, you two?"

Reisen nodded fervently, as if doing so would spare her life, while Eirin remained motionless. Yuuka took that as a 'yes'.

"See, Yukari's doing this thing-" Yuuka began, and was immediately cut off by the silver-haired Lunarian.

"No wonder this whole incident reeks of stupidity." Eirin sighed, lowering her weapons. "Why is Yukari doing this?"

Yuuka frowned at the interruption. "I would tell you, but I'm afraid you'll keep cutting me off."

"We won't interrupt!" Reisen squeaked, and received a small slap over the head.

"My apologies. Please explain this whole stupid idea of Yukari's."

* * *

><p>"I wonder if Yuuka really is evil now?" Kaguya asked no one in particular. The rabbits who guarded her looked fearful at the prospect, although Tewi seemed calm enough.<p>

"Don't see why she would be," Tewi answered with a frown. "Though it might just explain why she's got a pet heartless now."

Kaguya looked at the mass of rabbits with a look of wonder. "Hey, where's Reisen?"

"…I sent her to help Eirin?" Tewi reminded the princess. "Because you said you were 'slightly kind of sort of a little' worried?"

"Oh," Kaguya looked thoughtful. "So she's fighting Yuuka now?"

Tewi merely shrugged. "I assume she's crying at her feet and begging not to become one of her toys instead, but hey, she's probably begging heroically."

Kaguya smiled serenely. "She'll look cute doing it though!"

"…Yeah, there's that." Tewi sighed.

* * *

><p>"No obvious weak points," Sora pointed out with a small frown. "Maybe this really will take a while."<p>

"And to think, if _someone _hadn't messed with me, I would have got this whole thing done ages ago, ze." Marisa said bitterly.

After a second's awkward silence, Sora continued, "Well, uh, I'm gonna try and take it out quickly. I'll need your help for that."

Marisa circled above the giant heartless, glancing over her shoulder. "Oh? And what do you want me to do?"

Sora turned his gaze upward for a second. "You're fast, right?"

"Duh."

The young boy grinned. "Then I'll need you to catch me!"

At first Marisa looked surprised. Then she grinned too. Then she began to laugh.

"I think I like this little idea of yours!" Marisa chuckled, already flying higher. "Doubt it'll top your tornado-hopping, but this is something I gotta see, ze!"

The blonde witch flew higher and higher, until they reached heights even Sora would find dizzying. Far below, the heartless stomped around aimlessly, perhaps trying to flatten Donald and Goofy. They would need to be quick.

"Ready?" Marisa asked excitedly.

"Let's do this!" Sora replied in affirmation.

Again, Marisa began circling, building up momentum. Keeping the flight path tight, Marisa suddenly flipped the tail end of her broom downwards, Sora allowing himself to be ejected.

Curling into a ball before straightening, Sora found himself flying straight for the heartless. Perfect.

"One more time!" Donald cried out as Goofy lunged for Buttercup's leg.

"Duality Limit!" The two bellowed, Goofy's shield - and himself - now cloaked in Donald's Thunder magic. The heartless raised its uninjured front leg in an attempt to sweep away the mass of lightning running for it. Unfortunately for Buttercup, Goofy leaped high, before shooting straight for its leg and seemingly cleaving right through it, the spell currently discharging all over the heartless' leg.

With a cry barely half as loud as Marisa's had been, Buttercup raised its head skyward, the leg effectively useless now.

And up above, Sora's target effectively became bigger. Keyblade raised over his shoulder, he nose-dived for Buttercup.

With a grunt, Sora swung his weapon, slashing through its exposed head as he passed. The cry only increased in volume and intensity. Funnily enough, Sora thought he saw a flash of bright, white light, but that was quickly forgotten.

Marisa was swift with the aerial extraction. As soon as Sora's key blade had finished cutting up the heartless, Marisa had swooped down low, holding out both hands to catch Sora's free one. Amazingly, she held on, although she was clinging tightly to her broom, upside down, to keep Sora away from the ground.

The heartless was madly thrashing around, forcing the groups to retreat to a safer area. Mokou didn't move, however, and the spectators on the roof didn't see the need to leave the building's premises either.

"… that was incredibly stupid of him," Eirin noted flatly.

"Kind of a theme with that boy, really. Should've seen him ride a tornado!" Yuuka giggled, and glanced at the awed rabbit. "And you? Your thoughts?"

"What?" Reisen was startled at being addressed. "Em, eh, uh, oh, guh-"

Yuuka looked at Eirin curiously. "Uh… is she… functioning correctly?"

"Not right now." Eirin replied with a sigh. "So, now what?"

The flower youkai smiled broadly. "Now, part two begins!"

* * *

><p>"He is suicidal. There's no other explanation." Ran commented neutrally.<p>

"Really? Seems more reckless to me." Yukari shrugged, and her nine-tail shikigami stared at her in utter disbelief.

"Lady Yukari, I'm going to assume that you missed the part where he jumped from _several hundred feet in the air _and relied on a _human _to catch him!" Ran practically growled. "He is a _human_! Humans do _not think that way!"_

Yukari merely sighed impatiently. "Welcome to Gensokyo, Miss Ran. Please leave your common sense by the door, it'll only be mercilessly destroyed in here."

With a cry of frustration, Ran returned to watching Sora do something else that would kill a normal person.

* * *

><p>"Still not shutting up," Marisa noted with a hint of concern and a lot of admiration. "Think another sky-dive'll end it, ze?"<p>

"Might be a bit much…" Sora replied doubtfully, scratching at the back of his head.

"Well, it's almost finished, so let's end this!" Donald piped up, ready to rid this world of such a large nuisance.

The others nodded in agreement, ready to end the heartless in one more strike. Unfortunately, the creature flapped its wings, causing a powerful wind to blow through the area as it lifted off unsteadily. Eientei managed to stay standing despite the current damage, luckily enough.

The group watched it ascend higher and higher, still yowling and screeching like a creature completely unaffiliated with butterflies at all.

"…Aw." Sora said.

"That's not fair!" Donald cried out.

"No one said it couldn't fly, Donald!" Goofy pointed out, and earned a strike to the shin via Donald's staff. "Yeouch!"

Ignoring the two of them, Marisa glanced at Sora with a small grin. "Guess we're goin' back up?"

"Looks like we have no choice…" Sora nodded.

Donald suddenly came up with an idea. "Wait! The Gummi ship! We can use that!"

"Good idea, Donald!" Goofy agreed, still rubbing at his pained leg.

"If you can find out where it is and reach it within a few seconds, that'll be a big help," Sora grinned. "Otherwise, we can handle it!"

Donald and Goofy looked rather disappointed as Sora climbed onto Marisa's broom and they both rose to challenge the large heartless.

The beating of its wings made movement difficult, forcing Marisa to steer away from the area directly underneath it. Eventually, the were on equal altitude and staring each other down.

"Plan?" Marisa asked.

"Uh… Get close, and I'll hit it?" Sora suggested.

"Could work. Aim for the wings, then?"

"If it disappears before hitting the ground, it could work…" Sora muttered, although he didn't sound too confident in that idea.

Marisa had her hakkero at the ready, although she wondered how she could contribute much to the destruction of this heartless with her powers sealed. All she really had was danmaku, having left most of her spell cards at home. She really needed to remember to bring as much as possible in the future.

The heartless cried out once again, and suddenly charged forward. Despite its size, it was faster than expected. Marisa however, was used to duelling much, much faster opponents. It was a simple manner to manoeuvre away from it.

"You could have taken a swing there, you know, ze!" Marisa chastised the young man, who quickly apologised.

This was going to be a fairly tricky fight…

* * *

><p><strong>Ugh. Far too long for a rather short chapter. Sorry. I'll try and do better next time. Thanks again, GIG.<strong>

**...On another note, I've noticed that every time I upload a new document, the last quarter or so suddenly becomes italicised. Kind of annoying.**


End file.
